Hidden Agenda
by Bibble
Summary: On this mission, the Threat Matrix team must work closer and harder than they ever have, but when they do, they discover a secret that may tear them apart forever...CHAPTERS 14, 15 & 16 HERE!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Alora Stari walked into the seemingly empty warehouse with an air of authority about her. Her dark brown hair fell just over the shoulders of her black leather jacket when she turned her head quickly to get a better look at her surroundings. The heels of her black boots clicked on the cold cement floor, echoing through the building's silence.  
  
"Alright, Matt, I'm here!" Alora raised her arms and let them fall back against her sides. Her strict, feminine voice was intensified by the emptiness of the building. "You'd better not be leading me on a wild goose chase." She mumbled under her breath.  
  
Her deep, brown eyes scanned the blackness of the warehouse, finally detecting movement in a far off corner.  
  
A male form took shape as the shadowy figure moved slowly closer to Alora.  
  
"Took you long enough to finally decide to show up. What's it been? Three weeks - three years?" The male voice chuckled.  
  
Alora slid her slender hands into the pockets of her black leather coat and tilted her head slightly as she raised a brow. "I don't have time for your games, Matt. I just want my money."  
  
"Of course you do. You always did." Matt's tone became serious as he pulled a roll of bills from his back pocket and placed it firmly in Alora's hand.  
  
She quickly snatched the roll from him before he had a chance to reconsider. "Thanks." This word was used purely out of habit and there was no warmth in its presence.  
  
Matt raised his hands in protest as she started to leave, causing Alora to instinctively reach for her gun, only to remember that she hadn't been allowed to bring it with her. She soon realized his intentions were harmless when he spoke. "You mean you're not going to stay for a cup of tea?"  
  
Alora shook her head and spoke with dull sarcasm. "No thanks." She nodded a brief farewell and slipped out into the cool, fall afternoon. The warehouse was located in a mostly abandoned part of New York City, so the atmosphere was still somewhat gloomy, even outside. When Alora was a good distance from the warehouse she pulled a walkie-talkie from inside her leather jacket. "I got him." She spoke into the radio as she took a miniature recorder from one of her pockets. "Every word." She turned the recorder off before giving a final statement. "He's all yours."  
  
After about five minutes, Alora heard a clear shot ring out from the direction of the warehouse. A smirk formed on her soft lips as she slid into her black convertible and drove away.  
  
-  
  
One hour later, Alora was walking into the Threat Matrix headquarters to turn in her evidence and receive a "job well done" from her superiors. John Kilmer was the first to greet her when she stepped boldly into the dim conference room.  
  
"Well? Did it work?" Kilmer leaned forward in his black chair and folded his hands on top of the table.  
  
Alora tossed the miniature recorder onto the table carelessly. "Listen for yourself." She tried to keep a solemn expression, but the excitement of having completed her mission was causing a proud smirk to tug at the corners of her mouth.  
  
Kilmer pulled the recorder closer so that he could push the playback button. Right away Matt's distant voice could be heard over the small speaker. "I got him. Every word." Was the last statement the group heard before the device was shut down.  
  
"Good work, Stari." Kilmer switched off the recorder and slid it back to the center of the table.  
  
Alora Stari was beaming inside because of Kilmer's praise, but on the outside she simply gave a polite nod.  
  
Frankie brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face as she raised a suspicious brow. "So where's the cash, Alora?" It had been three days since Alora had been hired by Home Land Security to be there inside "spy", but Frankie still spoke harshly to Alora as if she were an outsider and couldn't be trusted. Did Frankie even realize how many background checks Alora had to go through before she was even considered for the position.  
  
"Don't worry. It's right here, Frankie." Alora replied stiffly as she pulled the large wad from her coat pocket. She placed it roughly into Frankie's hand and folded her arms, waiting to see an apologetic look cross Frankie's face. There was no such expression, however, and Frankie simply handed the money over to Colonel Roger Atkins.  
  
Colonel Atkins heaved a sigh of relief as he felt the green paper between his fingers. "Mission accomplished!" He leaned back in his chair and laid the bills back on the dark wooden table. "Tomorrow I'll send in a few troops to pick up Mr. Matt Rollins. Thanks to this tape, we have solid proof that he's been passing along stolen cash. Good job, Alora. I knew that getting you a position in that gang would come in handy in the information department."  
  
Frankie rolled her eyes before interrupting the outpour of praise. "Don't get too excited just yet. How do you know Matt will even be there tomorrow?" She crossed her legs beneath the table and watched Alora closely.  
  
"Oh he'll be there." Alora leaned her back against on of the walls in the square room. "He's always getting some big cash deal in or waiting for someone to pay him off. This is one very rich man we're dealing with here."  
  
Jelani laughed slightly. "Then you'd think he could afford better accommodations than a crummy, old warehouse."  
  
Alora nodded, "He's probably got three or four summer houses in Florida and California both."  
  
Jelani laughed again and rested his head against the back of his chair.  
  
Alora pushed away from the wall and took a small step toward the table. "You want to-uh, give me back my gun now?" She had been slightly irritated when Colonel Atkins had made her complete this assignment without a gun. What if she'd needed it to defend herself? Oh well, as long as he gave it back now, she'd be happy.  
  
"Can we trust you with it?" Frankie asked with a smart-alecky tone.  
  
John Kilmer shot Frankie a warning glance. He had noticed the tension between to two females, and he also knew that Alora had done nothing to deserve Frankie's criticism as of yet. He'd have to have a talk with the blonde later on.  
  
Alora ignored Frankie's comment and returned her attention to Colonel Atkins. "My gun?" She held out her hand in a somewhat demanding way. Frankie was rubbing Alora's fur the wrong way and it was causing her to be a little more on edge than usual.  
  
Colonel Atkins cleared tapped his hand on the table in attempt to silence the group. He pulled the gun from his briefcase and placed the cold metal gently into Alora's hand.  
  
Alora gave a small sigh, relieved to finally have her weapon back in her hands and not someone else's. "Now if you don't mind. I have a few errands to run." Her tone of voice was somewhat cold as she slipped the gun into the inside pocket of her leather jacket and exited the room somewhat dramatically.  
  
Kilmer immediately turned on Frankie with a disappointed glare. "What was that all about?" He motioned to the spot where Alora had been standing with a quick wave of his hand.  
  
"What?" Frankie pasted an innocent look on her face as she uncrossed her legs and stood casually from her chair. She folded her arms and waited for Kilmer to speak again, she knew he would.  
  
"You know what. You treated her like a prisoner being interrogated." Kilmer became slightly irritated that Frankie was trying to avoid his questions. Everyone else in the room shifted uncomfortably. They weren't used to hearing John and Frankie argue, and they felt out of place in this situation.  
  
"Yeah, so? I just don't trust her. I think we should look into her background a little more. It's been so long since we've had anyone new around here so I guess it just seems like she's invading." Frankie glanced out the conference room window. They were probably about seven stories up so she had to look quite a ways to be able to see the cars below.  
  
Colonel Atkins butted into the situation, trying to cool it down somewhat. "She's been through so many background checks she probably feels like she doesn't have a secret left in the world. And mind you, she probably doesn't. There's no need to run anymore tests on her." He waited until Frankie was looking at him before he continued. "It's too late in the game to start having distrust for your coworkers, Frankie. The rest of us have accepted her, you should at least try to get along with her…in a dangerous situation, we can't afford any doubts."  
  
Frankie knew the Colonel was right, but she didn't want to admit it, she still felt somewhat wary of Alora. She sighed and picked up her bag before moving toward the door. "You guys can trust her if you want…but I think you're doing it too soon." Frankie's irritated form slipped through the door and her footsteps finally died away in the outside hall.  
  
Kilmer and Jelani exchanged wearied glances and Colonel Atkins motioned for them all to stand. "I just hope this doesn't effect our missions." He shoved his pale hands into the pockets of his suit coat, and with a wave of his hand, ended the meeting.  
  
-


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Frankie walked into her apartment later that evening with a splitting headache. She tossed her purse onto the couch and groggily went to the medicine cabinet in her bathroom. She pushed the cabinet shut a little harder than she had intended to when she realized she didn't have any Tylenol or anything. That was strange…she always had some kind of painkiller on hand. A strenuous day on the job always gave her a headache so usually made sure she had a bottle of Tylenol around somewhere. She ran a hand through her blonde hair and walked back out the door and down the hallway. She'd ask go downstairs to the apartment office and see if Mr. Miles had anything. He was an older guy, probably in his sixties or seventies, and Frankie had befriended him right away when she moved into her apartment.  
  
"Hey, Frankie!" Mr. Miles looked up from his paperwork as he heard his office door being opened. "What a pleasant sight after all this paper junk I've been working on." He tossed the pile aside and folded his hands on top of his desk. "What can I help you with today?"  
  
Frankie smiled at his second comment. "I just came down to see if you had any Tylenol."  
  
"Another one of those work headaches?" Mr. Miles said sympathetically.  
  
"'Fraid so." Frankie nodded and watched as Mr. Miles began rummaging through his desk drawers. She waited to see what he would come up with.  
  
"Ah ha!" He tossed a rattling bottle at her and grinned as she caught it gracefully. "It's not Tylenol, but if you ask me they all work the same. Not what they want you to think by the way they do their commercials though!"  
  
Frankie laughed at the old man's humor as she pried the lid from the bottle and dumped out two pills. She handed the Aleve back to Mr. Miles, "Thanks."  
  
She began to walk back up to her room but she was stopped by Mr. Miles, who seemed as if he had suddenly remembered something. "Did you get the message from your cousin?"  
  
Frankie turned back to face him with a very confused expression. "What message?'  
  
"Well, a young man came through here not too long ago. He asked what room was yours and said he was your cousin. I wouldn't have let him in if he didn't have an I.D. on him. I believe his name was…James. Yes that was it! James Ellroy." Miles tilted his chair back and rested his feet on top of his desk. It was quite a sight for someone who looked as old as he did, especially since he looked older than he really was.  
  
"James Ellroy was here? He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah - I haven't heard from him in years!" Frankie folded her arms and tapped her foot once on the ground. "What did he look like?"  
  
"Let's see…he had black hair, I think. Well, no, he was wearing a hat." Miles bit his lip trying to think.  
  
He couldn't seem to think of anything to say about the man so Frankie decided to help him along. "What color were his eyes?"  
  
"That I don't know," When Frankie gave him a questioning look he finished his sentence, "he was wearing sunglasses."  
  
She sighed, "Did he have any noticeable scars?"  
  
Miles shook his head, "He was wearing a scarf…and gloves."  
  
Frankie sighed. "Alright, how about his height." Certainly the old man would remember about how tall her cousin was.  
  
"Now that I remember! I think he was a little taller than you…or maybe a little shorter." Miles shrugged. "I'm sorry, Frankie. I just can't seem to remember anything about the man. But I do know that he was wearing a black suit jacket and pants. Oh, and he had a gun." He added the last statement as sort of an afterthought, but to Frankie this was the most important statement of all.  
  
"He had a gun?" Frankie's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "And you let him in my apartment!" She was beginning to feel less and less secure living in this apartment building. She couldn't believe Miles had let someone with a gun into her apartment without her permission.  
  
"Hey, he had I.D. So long as you got I.D. to prove who you are, you're in." Miles raised his hands in defense for his actions.  
  
Frankie nodded. "Yeah." She spoke the word absentmindedly as she walked back up to her room. Mr. Miles was a nice man, but he apparently wasn't very bright. Frankie took the pills with a drink of water from the hallway drinking fountain before she unlocked her door and walked inside. There on the living room coffee table was a small piece of paper. She must not have noticed it the first time she walked in because she was so preoccupied with her headache.  
  
Frankie picked up the note and read it silently.  
  
_Frankie Ellroy-Kilmer,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that Mr. Matt Rollins has paid dearly for what he was about to do. We have saved you the trouble of having to make an arrest. You should never have butted into our affairs as this has cost Mr. Rollins his life. We must simply let you know that you and the Homeland Security team are wholly responsible for Mr. Rollins' fate. We warn you, do not make the same mistake again or it will cost the lives of many more.  
  
With Warning,  
X  
  
P.S. We'll be watching.  
_  
Frankie placed the note back on the table and looked cautiously about her apartment. Had anything been tampered with? She didn't think so. Whoever had come into her apartment had simply put down the note and left - and she knew it wasn't her cousin James.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Everyone on the Threat Matrix team had begun to file back into the conference room. It was nine o'clock at night so they were all beginning to get a little groggy despite what had taken place. Frankie sat at the head of the table and passed the received note over to Colonel Atkins. He quickly read the note out loud so everyone in the room would know its contents.  
  
"And you said it was your cousin that sent you this note?" Colonel Atkins let the note fall from his fingers and back onto the table.  
  
"No. Mr. Miles, the apartment manager, said it was my cousin - but I know it wasn't. He supposedly had I.D. with him, but it had to be fake." Frankie glanced around the table, letting her brown eyes wander from person to person as she spoke.  
  
Tim Serrano leaned on his elbows, assessing the situation. "Well, he had to have access to a lot of resources to be able to create a fake I.D. And from Mr. Miles' description, it doesn't sound like he was very poor."  
  
"That leaves my cousin out." Frankie glanced at John, awaiting his opinion.  
  
At that same minute Alora Stari reentered the conference room. She wore a serious expression as she tossed a small piece of paper onto the table near John. She pulled out the only empty chair next to him and sat down.  
  
John Kilmer picked up the paper that had just landed. He unfolded it and read it aloud to the group.  
  
"_Alora Stari,  
  
Because of your interference with our affairs, Mr. Matt Rollins' life has been terminated. We warn you to learn from your mistakes and not allow such carelessness to happen again. Next time, the results will me much more costly than Mr. Rollin's life.  
  
With Warning,  
X  
  
P.S. We'll be watching."_  
  
John glanced up from the note to Colonel Atkins. "How did anyone know we had Alora involved in this case?"  
  
"Well, like they said, they're watching." Anne "Lark" added her first comment to the conversation as she brushed her brown hair behind one ear.  
  
John swiveled in his chair so that he was facing Alora. "Where was this note given to you?"  
  
"I found it on my desk in my hotel room. I went downstairs to the main desk and asked how someone had gotten into my room. The hotel manager said a man came in claiming he was my brother and needed to get into my room. The manager kept insisting that he couldn't let him in, but he showed the manager a gift and let him inspect it. He said he just wanted to leave the gift in my room so the manager walked him up to my room and waited outside while he placed it somewhere. Then the hotel manager said he just left as quickly as he had come…said he had I.D. on him so he wasn't too suspicious." Alora reached into a large bag that she had brought with her and pulled out a small teddy bear. She handed it to John, "My gift." When John looked up at her she spoke again. "Don't worry, there's no bomb in it…I ran a check on it."  
  
John handed the bear over to Colonel Atkins, "And you're sure it wasn't really your brother that left you the bear and the note."  
  
Alora let out a sigh, "I don't think my brother would have given Frankie and I a note like that even if it was possible." She laughed mirthlessly and shot a sheepish grin toward John, apologizing for allowing her tone to get so harsh. John returned her smile before glancing toward Frankie who seemed as if she were about to speak.  
  
"Why isn't is possible?" Frankie asked Alora through narrowed eyes.  
  
"Because Frankie Ellroy," She purposely left the Kilmer off of "Ellroy-Kilmer" in her serious comment, "my brother has been dead now for just under a year." A glint of anger could be detected in Alora's gaze, and it was apparently being directed toward Frankie.  
  
John Kilmer rolled his eyes at Frankie for bringing up such an unnecessary question.  
  
Colonel Roger Atkins cleared his throat loudly to bring the topic of conversation back to the matter at hand. "We'll look into this situation further tomorrow. I want you all to go and get a good night's sleep…you're going to need it." He turned his attention to John, "John, you have a large apartment, don't you?"  
  
John nodded, "Yes, Sir."  
  
"I want Frankie and Alora to stay there with you until we get this mess sorted out. They'll need some extra protection." Colonel Atkins folded both notes and tucked them neatly into the pocket of his navy blue suit coat.  
  
Both female's stood to protest, but Alora was able to speak first. "Sir, I think I can protect myself quite well."  
  
Colonel Atkins shook his head. "Not if there's more than one person involved in writing these." He patted his pocket, referring to the notes that had been given to them. "I want you staying somewhere that these people don't know."  
  
Frankie pushed herself away from the table and let out a frustrated sigh. "I'll be waiting for you outside, John."  
  
"Same here." Alora picked her leather jacket up off of her chair and quickly pulled it on before she walked out the door.  
  
Frankie followed soon after, and from the window on the conference room door, the group could see Alora step onto the elevator and Frankie take the stairs…even though there was plenty of room in the elevator for her.  
  
Holly Brodeen couldn't help allowing a smile to form on her face at the humor of the situation. Jelani placed his hand over his mouth to cover his own grin, but he tried to keep a serious demeanor by focusing his eyes on the table. Lark patted his shoulder with a slight smile of her own, "It's ok, Jelani." At this statement, Jelani and Tim both lost control of themselves and allowed a laugh to slip through their serious expressions.  
  
John Kilmer turned to Colonel Atkins with raised eyebrows of shock. "How could you do this to me?"  
  
Lark and Jelani stood from the chairs and began gathering their things in preparation to leave. Lark was the first to go and she whispered into John's ear as she passed him, "Sleep tight." She grinned to herself, obviously very humored by the whole idea.  
  
Jelani had overheard Lark's statement and whispered his own statement into John's ear, "Don't let Frankie and Alora bite."  
  
Tim and Mo fell into step next to Jelani, all three chuckling to themselves.  
  
John shook his head and glanced to Colonel Atkins, the only other person in the room besides himself. "Why'd you really do this, Colonel?"  
  
Atkins let out a big breath of air as he stood from his chair and rested one hand on John's shoulder. "There's strength in numbers, my friend." He turned back to look at John as he walked toward the door. "Besides, I think it will be good for them personally to spend a little time together…keep an eye on them, I don't need to lose two agents."  
  
"Yeah, but I'll try not to step in too far, I might get hit with something." John shook his head with a laugh and walked out of the room. When he reached the parking lot he spotted both girls in the backseat of his car. Apparently they hadn't been able to decide who got to sit in the front seat. John chuckled to himself before sliding into the driver's seat and started the car. "Well, ladies, are you ready?"  
  
"Yeah, whatever." Alora folded her arms after roughly buckling her seatbelt.  
  
"Let's just go." Frankie turned herself so that she was looking out the window completely.  
  
John gave a large mental sigh and pulled out into the road, joining in the flow traffic. He had a feeling that this would be a long night. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
Five minutes after arriving at John's apartment, Alora found an open internet line and began typing rapidly on her laptop.  
  
Frankie was sitting on the couch watching the news on John's TV. She didn't know why she was, because she couldn't stand the biased view of all the liberal news reporters. Day after day the reported terrorist attack after terrorist attack, but almost never did they report the many, many good things that were happening in Iraq.  
  
Alora's fingers continued to fly rapidly over the keys, typing an email to someone. At the end of the letter she typed in bold, "Do NOT Kill John Kilmer!" She went back to change the k in "kill" to lowercase and accidentally deleted everything before the word. She emitted a low groan and stood from the computer to get a glass of water before retyping the rest of the message.  
  
While Alora was in the kitchen, Frankie pulled her coat off the coat rack in search of a pen so she could write down the number that was being advertised on the TV for a red bracelet. Not finding a pen, she walked into John's office area to get one, dropping her coat on Alora's laptop on the way by.  
  
As the coat landed, it struck the 'send' button on the computer causing the message "Kill John Kilmer!" to flash on the screen once before it was replaced with "Message Sending…" Frankie reentered the room and picked up her coat. "Oops." Was all she said, signaling that she had dropped her coat there somewhat on purpose, not knowing what had taken place in her absence. She quickly jotted down the number and resumed her place on the green couch.  
  
Alora walked back into the living room with a glass of water in her hand and sat down at her computer. Immediately her eyes began to frantically roam the screen, searching for the message that had been there when she left. And then it happened…the mouse froze on the screen along with everything else. She slammed her hand on the desk, chipping the edge off one of her perfectly rounded nails. "No!" Alora whispered to the computer. "You can't freeze now! I have to find that message so I can retype it and send it." She leaned back in her chair and ran a hand quickly through her hair. Oh well, she thought with a sigh. She would just have to find the message in the morning. Her eyelids were getting to heavy to continue staring at the bright computer screen. She shut down the computer, picked up a blanket and situated herself on the recliner.  
  
Frankie shut off the TV and flipped off the lights before she curled up on the couch.  
  
Sleep was the first thing the females had agreed on since they met.  
-  
  
The dark, male figure moved silently around the perimeter of the apartment complex. He looked up to the second story window that was supposedly John Kilmer's apartment. He had gotten the message from his boss that he was to kill John. He never disobeyed orders…it wasn't good for his health. He pulled a flashlight out of his coat pocket and turned it on. He pointed it toward the ground so no one would notice its light. He pointed it at his little notebook in which he had drawn a map of all of the places in the apartments he had been given access too. What he didn't know he had been given by his superiors, so he had a pretty good idea of what the place was like.  
  
Now, how was he supposed to get into the apartment…that was the only part of his orders that hadn't been explained to him. Aha, there was his answer. There was a tall maple tree growing close enough to John's bedroom window to be able to get a clear view inside. All he had to do was climb up the tree, aim, and shoot. It was as simple as that. Then he could go back to headquarters and tell them that he had accomplished his mission. Maybe he'd get some sort of reward - like a raise. He hadn't gotten a raise since he could remember. But then again, his branch of the terrorist group didn't get paid very well.  
  
He shook his head, ridding all extra thoughts from his mind as he climbed up the tree. He straightened his black mask so that it wouldn't hinder his view. A large black gun was pulled from the backpack that was strapped tightly to his back. It had a silencer so he would have time to get away before anyone realized what had happened.  
  
John Kilmer could be seen clearly through the window, sleeping. The gun was fired and the murderer slid down the tree and ran across the yard. Apparently he was not seen because no alarm was given. Besides, he was dressed in black, who would see him in the dead of night?  
  
The man laughed as he reached his black truck. Mission accomplished. He thought to himself as he pulled the thick mask from his head, revealing a tousled head of dark brown hair. He slipped the gun back into his backpack and climbed into his truck. The vehicle was parked far enough away that it would have no connection with the murder when he started it up and drove away, besides, this street was busy enough that no one would notice when another one was added to its noisy flow.  
-  
  
Frankie was walking slowly through an abandoned warehouse. The darkness seemed to be closing around her, but she could hear the voices in the distance. Those were the voices of those she was sent here to take care of. She held her gun steadily before her as she walked along the abandoned hallway. She pulled her black coat tighter around her, hoping it would help conceal her within the shadows. The voices were getting closer to her now, apparently she was approaching the room in which the terrorists were hiding. It wouldn't be much longer now, she only had a little further to go. She poised her finger over the trigger, sweat beginning to form on her hands. She couldn't let it cause the gun to become slippery…she couldn't afford any mistakes. One hesitation could mean certain death.  
  
And then she felt it - the cold metal against her neck. She had been caught. Her presence here was no longer a secret…apparently it never had been. She obediently dropped her gun to the ground, the sound of metal dropping on metal echoed through the silent building. She turned to face her captor, to see the face of the one who held a gun to her head. But there was only a black mask. A black mask covering every facial feature…except the eyes. Cold, heartless eyes that pierced through one's own and seemed to bore into the very soul.  
  
Those blue eyes…they always seemed to be laughing at her. Taunting her, amused that she would be on the receiving end if a bullet was to fly. And one did…the loud crack of the trigger being pulled sounded off through the night…it seemed to shatter the darkness in which she was standing. Frankie almost felt the bullet as it hit home…lodging itself deep into her skull. Then glass shattered all about her…where had it come from?  
-  
  
Frankie's eyes opened wide as she took in a sharp breath. Her head whirled as she took in her surroundings. She flew up into a sitting position and looked around herself groggily. It had only been a dream…she was still positioned on the couch in John Kilmer's living room. She could feel her heart racing in her chest, but her breathing had slowed to an acceptable level. How many times was she going to have that dream? She had it night after night, and every single time she woke up in a panic.  
  
She got up from the couch and wiped the sweat from her forehead. As she moved toward the kitchen to get a glass of water, she realized that Alora had stirred as well.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Alora pushed her blanket onto the floor and stood from the recliner.  
  
"Hear what?" Frankie was somewhat annoyed that Alora was awake. She only hoped that she hadn't made any noise during the horrible dream that would give away her weakness to the opposing female.  
  
"It sounded like glass shattering." Alora ran a hand through her dark brown hair, trying to pull herself into a sober state.  
  
Frankie paused for a moment. The glass. She remembered hearing glass shatter at the end of her dream. In fact, that was the only part of this dream that hadn't been there all of the other times. Maybe the glass hadn't been in her dream at all, maybe that was what woke her up. She turned toward the door to John's bedroom and walked quickly toward it.  
  
Alora followed closely behind and watched as Frankie turned the door knob. But it was locked. Frankie called John's name a few times, but there was no answer. She heard Frankie give a worried sigh as she stepped back from the door, then she knew what Frankie was going to do…she had seen it done so many times.  
  
The door swung open as Frankie's foot made contact with it. Both women rushed inside and found John lying unconscious on his bed. Alora glanced over at the window which had been shattered into many pieces. What happened here?  
  
Frankie quickly found the bullet hole in John's side. She pressed a bed sheet closely to it as she frantically tried to think of what to do. Why couldn't she think straight? She had been through situations like this before…many times before. So why couldn't she remember what to do? Maybe it was because she was so tired. After all, it was late. She glanced over at the alarm clock - 2:30 a.m.  
  
"I'll go call 911!" Alora jumped up from the bedside and ran into the kitchen. She quickly dialed the number and waited for someone to answer. She impatiently tapped her foot on the ground…what was taking so long? "Answer the phone!" She yelled into the receiver, knowing that it wouldn't make anyone answer any faster.  
  
Frankie could hear Alora talking in the kitchen…good, she must have gotten a hold of someone. She pressed the bed sheet harder against John's side…the blood was soaking through so she pulled more bed sheet over and piled it on top of the other…she couldn't let anymore blood get through.  
  
"John…what happened to you!" She spoke loudly, even though she knew that he couldn't hear her. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
To Alora it seemed like an eternity before the flashing lights of the ambulance could be seen out the window. She glanced over at the clock and realized it had only been five minutes since she had made the call to 911. She was waiting by the bed with Frankie until the paramedics arrived at their apartment door. Alora moved to answer the knock, and when she opened the door, a flood of people came into the room.  
  
After that, everything seemed to rush by so quickly. In a mere five minutes, they had John Kilmer loaded into their ambulance and on his way to the hospital. The paramedics wouldn't allow Frankie and Alora to ride in the ambulance, but they were allowed to follow in their own car. So both women grabbed their coats and swung into John's car. Alora happened to reach the driver seat first, so she turned on the engine and pulled the car out onto the street. She followed as closely behind the ambulance as she could, but when the speed limit was reduced she was forced to slow down and they soon lost sight of the ambulance in the flood of cars.  
  
"Where'd they go?" Alora's dark brown eyes scanned the street, searching for the flashing lights of the big white vehicle.  
  
"Just keep going straight down this road." Frankie tapped her fingers on the armrest. "The hospital's not too far from here."  
  
Alora followed Frankie's directions and they soon reached the hospital to which John had been taken. She pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her leather coat as she felt it vibrate. She flipped it open and a text message was displayed on the screen, "We got him!" Thoughts whirled through Alora's head. Got who? Were they talking about John? They'd better not be!  
  
The women weren't allowed to follow John's cart down the long hallway, so a nurse diverted them and lead them to a rather large waiting room. There was a little girl sitting in front of the TV watching Bugs Bunny, so they couldn't change the channel to something more interesting.  
  
Alora pulled a quarter out of her pocket and flipped it to Frankie. "You want to go call the Colonel?"  
  
Frankie nodded hesitantly, knowing that she would have to report what happened to him anyway…at least what she knew had happened, which wasn't much.  
  
Alora stood up from the burgundy chair and glanced around the crowded waiting room before turning to Frankie. "I'll be back in a few minutes."  
  
"Where are you going?" Frankie stood up as well, somewhat offended that Alora was just going to leave her here alone.  
  
"I said I'll be right back. There's no sense in sitting around here for hours before the doctors feel kind enough to tell you anything." Alora motioned toward the quarter that Frankie still clutched in her hand. "Don't forget to call."  
  
Frankie nodded with a blank expression as she sat back down in her chair. It was now nearly 3:00 a.m. What a night. Frankie thought to herself as she watched Alora exit the waiting room. She rested her head on her hand as she closed her eyes in attempt to catch up on some of her lost sleep, but every time the blackness of sleep came…so did the sound of the shattering glass…and those cold blue eyes. Would they haunt her now?  
  
-  
  
Alora's hands were shoved deep into the pockets of her black coat as she stepped out of John's car and into the empty parking lot. With a quick flick of her head, she sent her brown hair over her shoulder and out of her face. There it was…the abandoned factory. She couldn't believe no one had checked it out in all of the time that the group had been hiding there. She let out a slow breath and watched its steamy form as it blew away from her. It was that time of year again…the cold air making you never want to venture into the outdoors unless you were loaded down with coats and blankets.  
  
A slender hand was put forth as she turned the rusty door handle and opened the creaky door. She walked into the silent warehouse, pausing a moment to let her brown eyes adjust to the darkness of the building. She moved quickly down a dark hallway, the heels of her black boots clicking on the cement floor as she did. Alora could hear the voices of those she knew as she approached a restored office room. The door was quickly pushed open as she stormed inside.  
  
A man with dark brown hair was the first to greet her. "Alora, what are you doing here at this time of night?"  
  
"I could ask you the same question, Jamison." Alora's words were cold as she scanned the faces of every person in the room.  
  
Jamison's eyebrows flew up in surprise as he listened to her speak. "My aren't we grumpy tonight. You know that some of us work here at night…it's easier."  
  
Alora ignored his statements and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She brought up the recently received message and handed the phone to Jamison. "Who sent me this?" She tapped her foot once on the ground, making her impatience known to the rest of the group that had congregated in the room.  
  
"Um-I did, Alora." Jamison handed the phone back to her, somewhat confused by her attitude. He had followed her orders…he had thought she would be happy with him for sending one of their 'employees' to take care of it…apparently he was mistaken. "I did what you told me to do…I sent you that message to let you know I did."  
  
"What I told you to do?" Alora glanced at the ground thinking through all of the orders she had recently given the group. She motioned to her cell phone, "Is the 'I got him' referring to Matt Miles?" She knew she had ordered Jamison to kill Matt Miles, but that was the only 'him' she could remember ordering Jamison to 'get'.  
  
Jamison slowly shook his head. "No, Ma'am."  
  
Alora turned her back to Jamison and folded her arms, trying to remember any other orders that she might have forgotten about.  
  
"It was referring to John Kilmer." Jamison raised a questioning brown, surprised that Alora had forgotten such a recent order so quickly. Apparently he wasn't going to get the praise he'd been hoping for. Alora was the only one that held a position above Jamison, so if he got any praise for completing a mission, it was going to come from her.  
  
Alora whirled on Jamison. "What?!" She glared at the male. "I gave no such order!" Thoughts rolled through her head. She knew she had never told anyone to kill John Kilmer…or any of the other Threat Matrix team members.  
  
"Yes you did!" Jamison's eyes narrowed as he watched Alora closely.  
  
Alora automatically reached up and slapped him across the face. She didn't even realize what she was doing until she had done it, but she had to back up her actions somehow so she spoke. "I know what orders I have given, Jamison. And killing John Kilmer was not one of them."  
  
Jamison shrugged. "Why?" He asked challengingly. "Are you getting soft, Alora? Maybe it's time this group had a new leader…one that won't hesitate in doing what needs to be done." The rest of the group shifted uncomfortably in the background, trying to occupy themselves with something so it appeared they weren't paying attention to the argument that was taking place.  
  
Alora glared at him. His cold, blue eyes were no match for the rage that burned behind her brown ones. "So you think I'm getting soft?" She spoke harshly as she pulled her gun from the inside pocket of her leather coat. She cocked it quickly and pointed it straight at Jamison's chest. He took one step back hesitantly, knowing that Alora wasn't afraid to use the cold metal that was gripped tightly in her right hand. Alora quickly pointed the gun straight up and fired a shot, causing everyone in the room to jump to attention. Then she laughed softly and placed the gun back into her coat pocket. "Next time you think I'm getting soft, Jamison…remember that I am not afraid to use my weapon." She patted her pocket once before folding her arms loosely. "I don't know where you got that order, but it didn't come from me. Are we clear?"  
  
Jamison nodded his head slowly. "Yes, Ma'am."  
  
"Good." Alora turned on her heel and walked out the office door leaving the group inside to let out a unison sigh of relief.  
  
-  
  
Colonel Atkins walked into the waiting room and immediately spotted Frankie asleep in one of the many chairs. She seemed to have a very disturbed look on her face and did not appear to be resting very comfortably. He walked up to her and shook her shoulder gently, taking a step back when she awoke with a greater start then he had expected. Frankie threw her arms out in front of her, apparently trying to protect herself from an unseen enemy. "Frankie?" Colonel Atkins raised a brow as he waited for her to explain her actions.  
  
Frankie cleared her throat and stood from her chair. "Sorry. I was um-dreaming."  
  
Colonel Atkins nodded slightly, but didn't respond to her statement. "Has there been any report of Agent Kilmer's condition?"  
  
"No." Frankie shook her head and motioned toward a lady that was sitting at a high desk a short distance away. "I keep asking her, but she says there's nothing to report yet."  
  
Colonel Atkins folded his arms across his chest as Holly and Jelani walked in, each of the holding pops they had apparently gotten from the snack bar downstairs. Colonel Atkins looked at his watch. 4:00 a.m. It had been two hours since John had gotten shot. Certainly there was something to report by now.  
  
Colonel Atkins walked up to the main desk and pulled his badge from the inside pocket of his black suit jacket. He flipped it open and showed it to the lady at the desk, letting her know his position. "I need information on John Kilmer's condition."  
  
She typed a few words into her computer before returning her attention to Atkins. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any knew information yet. He's in surgery right now."  
  
Roger Atkins nodded. That was enough information for him right now, he just wanted to know where John Kilmer was. He'd like to know how critical his condition was, but he wouldn't push his luck with the lady at the desk just yet. Even an agent badge could only get you so far in these places.  
  
Mo, Tim, and Lark walked into the waiting room also. They had just been walking around the empty hallways of the hospital, trying to occupy their minds with something. When they spotted Colonel Atkins they rushed up to him.  
  
"So what's the word on John?" Lark was the first to speak as the three crowded around Atkins.  
  
"He's in surgery right now…that's all the nurse would tell me." Atkins let out a composed sigh and seated himself in one of the chairs. It was awkward being here. One always had to expect it when you worked in the line of work that he did…but it was never a reality until someone you knew was in the hospital, possibly in very critical condition. "Sorry I'm late though…I hit just about every stoplight in this city…I won't even go into the traffic. Who in their right mind would be out on a cold night like this?"  
  
No one laughed at the Colonel's comment, nor did he intend for his statement to be humorous, but he had to say something in attempt to lighten the darkened mood of the waiting room.  
  
Alora returned boldly to the waiting room. By the look on everyone's faces, there hadn't been any more reports on John. She felt somewhat guilty even though she knew she wasn't the one that had issued the order to kill John. At least the attempt hadn't been as successful as Jamison thought it had, and John still had a chance.  
  
She sat down and crossed her legs formally, dark eyes giving a quick scan over the entire room.  
  
"Where have you been?" Frankie demanded.  
  
"What business is it of yours?" Alora retorted. "I went out…is that a crime?"  
  
Frankie raised a brow. "That depends on where you went?"  
  
Alora stood from her chair and took one step toward Frankie. "I have taken just about all-"  
  
"Enough!" Colonel Atkins spoke louder than he had intended and everyone in the waiting room turned to look at him. His eyes flashed with authority as he motioned for the women to return to their seats.  
  
His order was not obeyed though, because Frankie only took a step toward Alora defiantly. "You had something to do with this didn't you?!"  
  
"What?" Alora looked shocked at Frankie's accusation. "How dare you blame this on me!"  
  
"Frankie." Jelani shook his head as Frankie glanced toward him, signaling for her to drop the subject. "Don't blame this on anyone here. We're a team."  
  
Tim, Holly, and Lark looked on eagerly hoping that Jelani's words would strike a chord somewhere. And they did. Frankie let out a sigh and returned to her seat submissively. Colonel Atkins gave both of the female's a stern look before returning to his seat as well.  
  
Holly cleared her throat and signed something to Jelani as she glanced down the hallway.  
  
Tim looked at Jelani questioningly so Jelani whispered to him what Holly said. "She said, here comes a doctor."  
  
And Holly was right. A man in light blue scrubs walked up to the group and pulled his gloves off of his hands. "John's operation was successful and he's in a recovery room right now." Before the group could let out a relieved sigh, the doctor continued. "These next twenty-four hours are critical. The bullet struck very close to his heart, but he has a pretty good chance of making it through this." The doctor nodded a farewell with a lopsided smile and walked out of the room.  
  
It was then that the group let out sigh and leaned back in their chairs, relieved. They all knew better than to ask if they could visit John Kilmer just yet, so instead they stood and began collecting their belongings so that they could go home.  
  
Colonel Atkins turned to Lark. "I hate to ask you this, Larken, but can Frankie and Alora stay with you for the next couple of days. I think they'll be safe there, because they can't go back to John's apartment now."  
  
Lark nodded solemnly. "Yeah."  
  
Frankie stepped up to Lark and the Colonel. "I'll follow you in John's car, Lark. Alora can ride with you."  
  
Alora was about to object to this statement, but Colonel Atkins was standing very nearby so she silently exited the room with Lark. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Lark left Alora and Frankie at her small house to catch up on some sleep as she went back to John's apartment with Tim. They were going to go over the apartment room in search of anything that could point them toward the person that had taken a shot at John Kilmer.  
  
Lark immediately found her way to John's bedroom and her eyes scanned over the tiny pieces of glass that had been shattered all over the floor. She pulled on a pair of white gloves and picked up a few pieces of the glass. She had brought her finger print kit with her, but at the moment she didn't think it was going to do her any good. The bullet had obviously been fired through the window from outside, so there would be no finger prints on the glass. Luckily Colonel Atkins had asked the doctors to keep the bullet they retrieved from John's side. That could be a very vital clue as there didn't seem to be many others.  
  
Tim came into the room and pulled his own white gloves off of his hands. "Find anything in here?"  
  
Lark shook her head. "No, there's nothing. It's as if this person left nothing behind." That's when a sudden thought hit her. "Wait a minute. This is a three story building."  
  
Tim nodded slowly, seeing what Lark was getting at. "And John's apartment is on the second floor." He eyed the bed carefully. "If his bed is level with the window, that means someone couldn't have seen him from the ground and definitely couldn't have gotten a bullet in him…especially straight toward his heart."  
  
Lark nodded, "Exactly. So how did the shooter make himself…or herself…high enough to get a clear shot at John?"  
  
Both Tim and Lark allowed their gazes to swing toward the window, searching outside for anything tall enough to reach the second story window.  
  
"The tree!" Tim suggested as he moved over to the window to get a better look at the lower half of the tree. "It's perfect for climbing and there's a large branch straight out from the window." He put his hands on his hips. "That's got to be how the shooter did it!"  
  
Lark smiled, glad that they finally had something to go on. "Then let's get out there and take a look at that tree."  
  
Once they were outside, they approached the tree slowly. Lark's eyes were scanning the ground searching for any kind of footprint or for anything that might have fallen from the shooter. And there was her first clue!  
  
"Hey, Tim! Come here." She kneeled down on the ground and pulled her gloves back on before she picked up an AA battery and twirled it around between her fingers.  
  
Tim jogged up to her and knelt down as well. "A clue. How long do you think it's been here?"  
  
Lark shrugged and shook her head. "I guess there's really no way of knowing. It would be great if this fell from the shooter, but I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to leave a battery lying around if they were about to shoot someone."  
  
Tim tilted his head to get a better look at the battery. "Well, you never know." He pulled out a plastic bag from his back pocket and held it open so Lark could drop it inside. "We can have it checked for fingerprints when we get back to headquarters."  
  
Lark nodded. "Of course." She stood up and brushed the grass off of herself before turning her attention to the tree. "Alright, let's check out this tree."  
  
Tim was the first to reach the tree and he climbed up it with ease. He reached the large branch he had spotted from the window. "Yup, I was right, Lark. I have a perfect view of the bed from here!"  
  
"Good!" Lark nodded. "I think we may have something here. She was slightly hesitant to climb up the tree behind him, and decided against it because of the high heels that she was wearing. "Now look around up there, Tim! Do you notice anything out of the ordinary?"  
  
Tim looked at the tree around him. He climbed onto a nearby branch so that he could see the large one on which he had been standing. "No." He shook his head, but leaned toward the branch for an even closer view. "Wait…there's some bark scraped off this branch. Probably got scraped off when the shooter tried to steady himself."  
  
Lark nodded. "Good. Now come on down. I'll get a lab team out here later this afternoon to do some tests on the tree." She lifted the bag that contained the battery. "Let's get this down to headquarters and have them check it for fingerprints."  
  
Tom slid quickly down the tree and landed on the grass with a dull thud. He grinned slightly at his quick landing and followed Lark to her car. Hopefully the battery would get some results. If not, they could always go back to the tree with the lab team and see what turned up there.  
  
-  
  
Colonel Atkins was standing around a table looking at the notes that had been sent to Frankie and Alora. Both of the women were standing around the table as well as Mo.  
  
Tim and Lark entered the room and the group discussion was interrupted with Lark spoke. "We got something over at the apartments, Colonel." She tossed the plastic bag onto the table and motioned toward the battery.  
  
Tim stepped up beside Lark and pulled his gloves out of his coat pocket and laid them on the table too. "We found it on the ground near the tree that we believe the shooter used to get a bullet through the window."  
  
The Colonel nodded and picked up the bag. "Good work you two. I'll get this down to the lab right away for a finger print test."  
  
"I can take it, Colonel." Lark suggested. "I'm going down to the lab right now to get a team to go back to the tree and do a few tests on it."  
  
Atkins nodded and passed the bag to her. "Ok."  
  
Lark turned toward the door, but paused and glanced back to the table. "Did you get anything off the letters?"  
  
Frankie shook her head. "No finger prints, ink smears….nothing. We can't even go by handwriting because they were typed. It's as if these are perfect letters without a single flaw!" Despite the sleep she had gotten that morning, Frankie still looked very tired. Lark noticed this but didn't comment on the matter…they didn't need anything else to worry about right now.  
  
Lark nodded. "Do you want me to take 'em back down to the lab and have them rerun the tests on them?"  
  
Alora shrugged and picked up the letters. "You might as well, we're not getting anything from them up here." She handed the letters to Lark and watched as she walked out the door. "I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat. I'll be back in a few minutes."  
  
Colonel Atkins nodded and turned to Frankie as Alora exited the room. "Frankie, I want you to run down to the hospital and get that bullet from the doctors. It's going to be a vital piece of information in this investigation."  
  
Frankie nodded and pulled up her coat. The Colonel stopped her with one last statement. "Oh, and Frankie…I don't think I need to tell you to check up on John's condition while you're down there."  
  
Frankie shook her head. "No, Sir, you don't." She pulled her coat on the rest of the way and nodded a farewell before turning to Mo. "Hey, Mo, will you drive me over to my apartment so I can pick up my car?"  
  
He nodded and grabbed his car keys. "Yeah, sure." Colonel Atkins watched as the two disappeared down the hallway.  
  
-  
  
Alora slid into the driver seat of John Kilmer's car. She didn't know why she was still using it…probably just because she hadn't gotten a chance to go back and get her own. She turned the key in the ignition and the engine revved to life.  
  
A few minutes later she was pulling back into the empty parking lot of the abandoned factory. She ran a hand through her dark brown hair as she tried to think of what she was going to say…she had a few bones to pick with Jamison.  
  
Alora Stari walked back into the office area of the warehouse and called Jamison's name. It was only a few seconds before he emerged from one of the side offices and gave her a questioning look.  
  
"Who did you send to shoot John Kilmer?" She put her hands on her hips, tapping the heel of her boot on the linoleum floor.  
  
Jamison rolled his eyes and let out an irritated sigh. "Not this again." He picked up a pile of papers from the main desk and turned to slip back into his office…he didn't have time to argue about this.  
  
"No…this is about something else. Who did you send to shoot John Kilmer?" She repeated her question, slightly annoyed that Jamison had turned his back on her.  
  
He turned around and tapped the papers on the desk, trying to remember whom he had sent. "Derek."  
  
"Where is he?" Alora demanded, her authority echoing through her words.  
  
Jamison shrugged, "I think he's in the next room."  
  
Alora rolled her eyes as if her next order was obvious and she shouldn't even have to be giving it. "Go get him."  
  
He nodded and disappeared through a wooden door. He reappeared moments later, a tall young man with dark brown hair following close behind. Jamison paused to see if Alora wanted anything else from him, but she motioned for him to stay so he did.  
  
"You left evidence at the scene of the crime, Derek." She folded her arms, a frown appearing on her lips. "You're getting sloppy. We can't afford to let this work get sloppy! If they find out where we are, we're finished!" She leaned against the wall, waiting to hear what Derek had to say.  
  
"What evidence did I leave?" He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, worried that he had left something important.  
  
"Does the word 'battery' ring a bell?" Alora raised a challenging brow.  
  
Derek slapped the palm of his left hand to his forehead and grimaced. "The battery!"  
  
Alora closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from yelling. "You left the battery! Great! Now they have your fingerprints."  
  
Derek's eyes suddenly lit up and he shook his head with relief. "No they don't."  
  
Jamison shot Derek a questioning look. "What do you mean they don't. You touched it didn't you?"  
  
Derek nodded causally. "Yeah, I did…but I had gloves on."  
  
Both Alora and Jamison let out a sigh of relief. "Well, it was too close, Derek. Don't let it happen again." Alora brushed a strand of hair behind her ear as Derek nodded. She nodded toward the door, telling Derek that he could go back to what he was doing. Once Derek was out of hearing range Alora turned to Jamison, "That kid better not give us away. We got a big operation going here."  
  
Jamison nodded, "He won't. I'll keep a closer eye on him from now on."  
  
"Good." Alora reached into her pocket quickly as she felt her phone vibrating. "Hello?" She said as she flipped it open. She put a finger forcefully to her lips, warning Jamison to keep absolutely silent.  
  
"Alora Stari? This is Colonel Atkins." So it was Colonel Atkins on the other end of the line.  
  
"Yes?" Alora held the phone a little ways away from her ear so that Jamison could listen in on the conversation.  
  
"We have some more evidence here. I just called Frankie and told her to come over to headquarters so I decided to call you too."  
  
Alora nodded even though she knew Colonel Atkins couldn't see her. "I'll be right over." She tried to sound cheerful on the phone, but disappointment was definitely showing on her face.  
  
"Great. See you then." Colonel Atkins hung up the phone and the rooms silence was filled with a constant dial tone.  
  
Alora pressed the 'end' button on her cell and shoved it back into her pocket. She turned to Jamison angrily, pointing at him. "If this new evidence ruins this organization, I'm going to hold you and Derek personally responsible."  
  
Jamison moved to protest. "Why me?"  
  
"Because you're the one who sent in an amateur kid to do a professional's job." Alora hit her fist on top of the main desk and leaned her head back, looking at the ceiling. "I'll be back later."  
  
Jamison nodded and walked back into his office. 


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

- Response to Latest Reviews -  
  
Melanie-Anne: Curiouser and Curiouser...heehee. Thanks for all the reviews. You'll just have to read this next chapter to find out what happens. :) 

Freitazal: Yay! Thanks for the compliment. What's up with Alora, you ask? You'll just have to read on and find out for yoursefl!

* * *

Chapter 7  
  
Jamison walked back into his office after Alora left. She seemed to be back to her old demanding self again. He had been worried for a while that she was going to get soft again, but this recent conversation had pushed that doubt out of his mind.  
  
Jamison tossed the pile of papers onto his desk and walked into the next room. "Derek, where's Allison?"  
  
Derek looked up from what he was doing and motioned to the opposite end of the crowded room where Allison was sitting at a computer typing rapidly.  
  
"What can I do for you, Jamison?" Allison swiveled to face him as he approached.  
  
Jamison spoke seriously. "When's our next planned attack?"  
  
Allison pulled something up on the computer and quickly skimmed through it. "Six O'clock this evening."  
  
He nodded. "Good. And that's at-?"  
  
"Just a large office building, Sir." Allison clicked the mouse a couple of times before returning her attention to Jamison. "I wish we could hit something more important, but security's too tight right now."  
  
"Yeah, we'd better not risk something too big just yet." Jamison pulled on his coat, getting ready to go out for some lunch. "Who's handling this attack?" He crossed his fingers, hoping that it wasn't Derek - Alora would kill him if it was.  
  
"I am, Sir." She looked at her watch. "I'll take the bomb in at 5:39p.m. and leave it in the bathroom. I'll set it to go off half an hour later, then clear out." She leaned back in her chair, proud of the research she had done. "It should work without flaw, the building doesn't have much security."  
  
"Good." Jamison paused before adding one last statement. "And don't blow yourself up! We're too low on staff to start using suicide bombers."  
  
Allison laughed softly at this statement as she turned back to her computer. Right now she was hacked into the office building's security cameras, trying to find the quickest and least traveled route to the place where she would leave the bomb.  
  
Jamison walked out of the office area and headed toward the building's exit. He was glad that Allison was handling this attack. She was one of the best at getting into places unnoticed, besides himself and Alora, and when you were in the terrorist business, you could only afford the best.  
  
Later that evening, Allison was walking casually into a fancy office building. Her large purse was clutched tightly to one side and a large, black briefcase to the other. The heels of her navy, blue shoes clicked on the linoleum flooring as she walked down the mostly empty hallway.  
  
She brushed her red hair over her shoulder and straightened her blue blazer as she moved through a crowd of people. A professional look was plastered onto her face with the ease of someone that had been faking identities for a long time.  
  
"Hey. Are you new around here? I don't remember seeing you before." Allison's heart skipped a beat as she turned to see where the voice had come from. There was a man with dark blonde hair smiling at her from the doorway of one of the many room that lined the hallway.  
  
Allison nodded and smiled. "Yes, today's my first day here. I'm interviewing for a new position." She realized that her knuckles had turned white because of how hard she was gripping her breifcase, and apparently the man had noticed too because he was giving her a questioning glance. Allison held up her hands and laughed, "Nerves! Always when you don't want them." She returned her hand to her purse and turned away from the male as he nodded with a laugh as well.  
  
She let out an irritated sigh and shook her head as she continued down the hall. The security cameras had been right…these next set of hallways were practically deserted. And there was the bathroom! Allison smirked as she swung the door open and to her benefit, found the restroom empty. She quickly picked the lock to the paper towel dispenser and dropped the bomb inside. Luckily it was just small enough to fit inside the mechanism, so she didn't have to worry about finding another place to put it. She supposed she could have put it in the garbage can simply enough, but she didn't want to risk it being found.  
  
She flipped open the briefcase on the bathroom counter and slid her laptop out. She quickly pulled up the security camera that was viewing the outside hallway. Good. It was empty. She made sure that it was so that no one would see her exiting the bathroom and be able to tie the bombing to her. Jamison had been right in assigning her to this kind of work…she was good at it…and she knew it.  
  
Now she had a half-hour to get herself out. This would be the easy part. She exited the building the way she had come, luckily not running into the talkative man. He won't be so talkative at 6:00 tonight. She nearly laughed aloud at the thought. Once she was inside her red car, she finally allowed a complete smile to form on her face. Jamison would be proud of her. Alora would too…she was sure of it.  
  
-  
  
It was nearly 6:03 when Frankie got the call. Colonel Atkins told her that there had been a bombing on the other side of town in an office building and he wanted her to go with the rest of the Threat Matrix team to check it out. The police were already on the scene, trying to get the survivors out of the building.  
  
Frankie immediately obeyed and left the hospital in a rush. When she arrived on the scene, dust and smoke had caused the air to become hazy. She slid out of her car and realized that she was the last of the team to arrive. The others were already busying themselves with helping victims and taking to the police, trying to figure out what had happened.  
  
Frankie approached Lark who was the nearest person to her. "What happened here?"  
  
Lark shook her head with a frown. "We know there was a bomb, and that's about it. We don't yet know where in the building it went off or by whom it was set." She brushed some ash from her face and whipped it on her coat.  
  
Frankie nodded, understanding Lark's frustration. She rushed up to a man who was clutching his arm tightly. When she reached him, she found a large burn all along his left arm. "Hold on, I'll be right back." She got into one of the police's first aid kits and pulled out a roll of gauze. She came back to the man with dark, blonde hair and cut off his sleeve before wrapping the white bandage around the burn. Just as she had finished she heard the wail of the ambulance sirens as four of the large vehicles pulled into the parking lot.  
  
News crews and passersby were beginning to gather around the rubble so the police had to set up a fence of caution tape all around the perimeter of the building to hold them back.  
  
Frankie's head was spinning as she watched everything take place…how could they let this happen? But then again, how could they have known?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
Alora walked about the bomb scene, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her black leather coat as she thought about all that had happened. The weather was quite gloomy to add to the solemn mood that seemed to be present on everyone's faces as they moved around her. Rain was beginning to drizzle down from the sky…a cold rain. It was a help to the firefighters who were attempting to put out the last few flames that kept popping up here and there around the building, but to the rest of them, it only made the situation worse and more uncomfortable.  
  
She pulled a walkie-talkie from her pocket and spoke to Jelani, who was back at headquarters, trying to find out anything he could on their advanced computers. Right now he was logged into past records of the video cameras that lined the hallways.  
  
"Do you have anything, Jelani?" Alora let go of the 'talk' button after she was done speaking and looked around at the gruesome sight. This was something she was used to seeing…but she had never quite hardened her heart toward it…even if Jamison suggested that she had.  
  
"I got a lot of people, but finding out which one dropped the bomb could be impossible." Jelani watched the screen carefully as people walked by the video camera.  
  
"Well, keep looking over them…look for anyone that has a big package, or anything large enough to fit a bomb in it, like a bag." She left her walkie-talkie on, but slid it back into her pocket as Lark approached her.  
  
"Can you head back to headquarters and help Jelani with the computer side of things. I've heard you're pretty good in that area yourself, and it might go a little faster with two people." Lark waited for Alora's reaction, hoping she wouldn't object."  
  
She didn't object, however, and simply nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll head right over there."  
  
Lark smiled wearily. "Great."  
  
Alora quickly got into her sleek, black car - which had been so graciously retrieved by Mo and Tim - and drove away from the bomb site. She was glad that Lark had wanted her to go to headquarters, because now she didn't need an excuse to slip away and get over to the abandoned factory. She wanted to find out if it was her terrorist organization that had planned this attack…if not, who had?  
  
-  
  
Jamison glanced up from his desk as he heard the main door to the office area open. He looked out his office window into the general area and saw Alora Stari walk inside. When he went out to greet her he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Allison had gotten back safely. Good.  
  
"Jamison, did you plan the attack on that office building?" Alora perched herself on the edge of the main desk and waited for his response.  
  
He halfway nodded, "Well, not me personally. Allison did. Why?" He gave her a curious glance.  
  
Alora shrugged. "I was just curious. But, I'm glad you did, it takes Frankie's immediate attention off of me. I can't afford for her - or any of them - to find out who I really am."  
  
Jamison nodded with a grin, "I can understand that." He was glad that his boss was back on their side and wasn't showing anymore signs of hesitation or weakness.  
  
Allison looked up from her work and smiled proudly at Alora. What Alora said might not have sounded like praise to someone passing by, but everyone in the room knew that if you got her to say anything at all positive about what you had done…it was praise.  
  
About twenty minutes later, Lark picked up her cell phone and dialed Jelani's number.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
Lark pressed her phone closer to her ear. It was hard to hear over all that was taking place at the bomb site. "Hey, Jelani. Can I talk to Alora?"  
  
"Alora? I thought she was at the bomb site with you." Jelani paused what he was doing on the computers so that he could pay more attention to what Lark was saying.  
  
"No. I sent her to help you. That was about twenty minutes ago, she should have gotten to headquarters a long time ago." Lark looked at the ground, a confused expression taking over her face.  
  
"Well, she's not here."  
  
Where could she have gone? Lark ran a hand through her hair and looked over at the cars in the parking lot. Alora's car was gone…hopefully she didn't have an accident or something. "Well, have her call me when she gets there."  
  
"Sure."  
  
Lark hung up the phone and tossed it back into the driver seat of her car. She'd have to look into the Alora situation later, but right now she didn't have time.  
  
-  
  
Alora finally walked into the Homeland Security headquarters. She found Colonel Atkins and Jelani gathered around a computer, watching something on the screen very closely.  
  
"What's up?" She asked curiously as she walked up to them.  
  
Jelani looked up. "Where have you been? Lark said she sent you over twenty-five minutes ago."  
  
Alora grinned and shrugged. "Bad traffic." She lied. "Now, what have you come up with?"  
  
Jelani swiveled in his chair. "Well, I've narrowed it down to five possible suspects. There could be more, but these are the only people that were in the building around 5:20 and after that have been carrying anything big enough to hold a bomb." Jelani switched the video tape so that it showed a man carrying a gift bag. The camera followed the man as he walked down the hallway. "Now, he could have been delivering that gift to someone…or it could contain the bomb."  
  
Alora nodded, watching the screen intently. Her breath nearly caught in her throat, however, when Allison passed in front of the camera carrying a large briefcase and a large purse.  
  
"Who's that?" Colonel Atkins asked Jelani.  
  
Jelani immediately paused the camera and zoomed in on Allison's face. He ran it through the tracer and a complete profile immediately popped up on the screen. "Her name is Allison Solis. Right now she works as a secretary for an insurance company."  
  
"Then what was she doing at this office building?" Alora asked, pretending to know nothing about Allison, and pretending to be curious as to why Allison was in the building.  
  
Jelani shrugged. "Could be hundreds of reasons. She could have been interviewing someone for a job…or she could have been the one being interviewed. Her insurance company might even have had a small office set up in there…there's too many possibilities to count."  
  
Colonel Atkins' face fell. He thought they finally had a lead, but it just turned out to be a dead end.  
  
"How do we even know what time the bomb was planted?" Alora asked, trying to take the attention away from Allison for the moment.  
  
Jelani sighed. "We don't."  
  
Alora shook her head. "This case is just one dead end after another."  
  
"Just like John's case." Colonel Atkins seemed to have suddenly gotten an idea. "Could John begin shot somehow tie into this bombing?"  
  
Alora nodded, contemplating. "I suppose it's possible. They both seem to have an invisible guilty party."  
  
Colonel Atkins glanced at Jelani, glad they had an idea to work from now. "Alora, I want you to look into this. See if you can find any connections between the two cases."  
  
"Yes, Sir." She paused. "Am I doing this on my own?"  
  
"No." Colonel Atkins shook his head. "I'll have Tim work on this with you." Colonel Atkins ran one hand gently over his graying hair and disappeared around the corner.  
  
Jelani glanced up at Alora who seemed to be thinking about something. "I just hope we find the answer to this soon, for all of our sakes but especially John's."  
  
Alora nodded and smiled at Jelani gently. She paused briefly before she too exited the room. What was she supposed to do now? She didn't know how the cases were connected. Well, of course she did, but she didn't know who gave Jamison the order to have John shot. That was the real mystery in this case. "I think it's time to go visit John in the hospital." She whispered to herself even though there was no one to hear.  
  
-  
  
Alora Stari walked briskly into the sterilized building. She never liked this place…it always smelled of antiseptics and latex gloves. But she supposed it couldn't be helped. She pushed the smells and sights out of her mind as she made her way down the hallway toward the main desk.  
  
"I'm here to see John Kilmer, where's his room?" Alora had one hand in her pocket resting on her badge incase she needed to pull it out and tell the lady that she was on government business.  
  
"514." The lady motioned down the hall with a wave of her hand and returned to what she had been doing before Alora interrupted her.  
  
Friendly folk. Alora thought to herself with sarcasm as she headed down the hall. At least the nurse didn't tell her that she couldn't visit him. She only hoped that John was awake so that she could talk to him. She pushed open the heavy wooden door and found that John was quite awake. He was watching the news on a TV that had been mounted very close to the ceiling. Right now, they were showing a picture of the bombing that had taken place earlier that evening.  
  
"Hey." John spoke weakly as he heard Alora enter.  
  
"Hi." Alora kept her voice low, not really meaning too…she just seemed to want to speak quietly when she was in a hospital.  
  
"Who did it?" John asked.  
  
He didn't give any indication as to what he was talking about, but Alora knew from experience that he was referring to the bombing that he had been watching on the television.  
  
"They don't know yet. We weren't able to prevent it…we didn't get a lead before hand." Alora shook her head and sat down in a chair along one of the room's four walls.  
  
John nodded, understanding. "Was it the same people that shot me?"  
  
Alora returned his nod. "We think so…at least that's what Tim and I are looking into."  
  
"You guys better watch your backs…there will probably be more attacks than this since you haven't caught anyone yet." John spoke more strongly now, apparently coming out of his tired mood.  
  
Alora thought through this. "Yeah…we'll keep a better eye out from now on."  
  
John nodded. "Good." 


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

Response to Reviews:  
  
Freitazal - Well, Alora's not part of the actual show...she's just from my imagination, lol. You'll find out her background story in later chapters...I promise! Heehee...guess you'll just have to keep on reading and trust me ;)

Melanie-Anne - Heehee, you knew it! Haha. You're sure she's bad? ;) - I'm just kidding...or am I? Mua ha ha ha! Here's chapter nine to add to your curiosities! What's going on with Frankie's dreams...?

* * *

Chapter 9  
  
Alora walked back into headquarters, looking for Colonel Atkins. She finally found him pouring over the computers once more with Jelani.  
  
"I visited John, Colonel. I told him about all that's happened and all that we're doing." She glanced toward the computer absentmindedly and waited for the Colonel to respond.  
  
"They're allowing visitors now?" Colonel Atkins nodded. "Good, I'll let Frankie know because she's been anxious to get in there to see him."  
  
Alora changed the subject with her next statement. "Is Tim back here yet?"  
  
Just then, Tim walked into the room almost as if he had heard her question. "Yeah, I'm here."  
  
"Did you tell him about our assignment?" She waited to see what Roger Atkins would say.  
  
"Yes. I want you two to get over to the bomb site and find the blast point. Then radio back to Jelani...if he knows where the blast point was he can see who was around there near the time of the bomb." Colonel Atkins straightened his black suit jacket and waited for them to respond.  
  
Tim grabbed his coat and headed toward the door. "We're on it!"  
  
Alora followed closely behind him. They both got into Alora's car and quickly drove off toward the office building.  
  
-  
  
Fankie walked once more down the abandonded hallway of the building. The shadows swirlled around her, threatenign to engulf her if she took one step toward them. She could hear the voices of the others in a distant room...one that she never seemed to get any closer to no matter how far she walked. Her gun was gripped tightly in her hands, her right index finger poised over the trigger, ready to fire if the need arose.  
  
And then she felt it...the cold metal being pressed against the back of her neck. She obediently dropped her gun and whirrled around to face her captor. The menacing blue eyes, they were there again staring down at her. But then something happened...the man pulled off his mask revealing his short brown hair.  
  
"You traitor." The man's low voice echoed through the hall causing Frankie to jump...she hadn't expected him to speak. "How could you turn on us now when you've been with us for so long?"  
  
"I-I didn't turn on you..." Frankie suddenly found herself at a loss for words. "I don't even know who you are?"  
  
The man laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh, it was a mocking one - full of hatred. "Now you deny your friends. We helped you avenge his death...and now you deny knowing us at all."  
  
Frankie raised a brow. "Who's death?"  
  
The man scowled and struck her. The back of his hand making contact with her face. "Don't play fool with me. You know exactly who I'm talking about. You gave away our attacks...everything we did. We almost got caught because of you. You've grown weak."  
  
Frankie pressed her cold palm against her cheek that was now throbbing with pain. Asking questions apparantly wasn't going to get anywhere...she would have to step into the role of the person this man thought she was. "It is you who have grown weary. I havn't given away your attacks."  
  
The man rolled his cold, blue eyes. "Then perhaps you can explain to me how the police knew of our every move. None of us told them...you were the only one that had contact with them. It had to be you." He glared at Frankie, pressing the barrel of his gun harder against her neck.  
  
"What attacks have I given away?" Frankie demanded.  
  
"Luckily you didn't give away the bombing at the office building, but all of our attacks after that...the police have gotten there before we have." The man kept the gun pressed to Frankie's neck...never letting up on her, lest she should find a moment to counter attack.  
  
Frankie paused...thinking over what the man had just said. "What was the next attack after the office bombing?"  
  
The man narrowed his eyes. "What are you trying to pull? You know all of our attacks."  
  
She shook her head. "Nothing, I'm just trying to prove a point."  
  
He hesitated, but eventually decided to speak. "We placed a sniper along the highway."  
  
Frankie nodded, pretending to remember. "Right." She felt him let up on his gun slightly and she whirrled, attempting to knock it out of his hand.  
  
The man quickly tightened his grip on the metal. "Enough!" He pointed the gun at her head and fired. The shot rang through her ears as she felt the bullet lodge against her skull. Then glass shatter all about her...each piece of glass reflecting those cold, blue eyes.  
  
-  
  
Frankie jolted awake, running a hand through her hair, allowing time for her breathing to slow to its normal rate. She quickly realized that she had fallen asleep in her car outside of the hospital. She had the dream again...it had been so real. She could remember every word the man had said to her. And that was the odd thing, he had never spoken in any of her other dreams - just started at her with those eyes filled with hatred. What did he have to do with the office building bombing? He had spoken of it before he shot her. And why had she dreamed up a sniper? There hadn't been sniper shootings for quite some time...at least not that she had heard of.  
  
She forced her eyes to stay open as she revved the car engine and pulled into the street. It had been a long day, but she still had to report to headquarters...she had a job to do and she couldn't believe she had fallen asleep so easily.


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

Response to Reviews:

Melanie-Anne - Heehee...here's the 'more' you requested! :) Hope this explains a lil' more about Frankie's dreams...;)

Angelus Love - Heehee, thanks for the CAPS review! Lol. Thanks for all the compliments, and we'll see what happens with the Alora/John situation...I couldn't really tell you what's gonna happen...that would take the fun out of reading, but I think you'll all be surprised with the results!

Freitazal - Yes, John is getting better..yay! Lol. Hopefully this explains more about Frankie's dreams for you too! :)

* * *

Chapter 10  
  
Frankie walked into headquarters still thinking about the dream she had. Why was it so different from all the others? She shook the thoughts from her mind as she walked up to Colonel Atkins. She was about to speak to him, but the solemn look on her face stopped her. "What happened?" She was worried for a moment that something had gone wrong with John's condition or that something had happened to another member of the team.  
  
"We just got reports of a sniper alongside one of our main highways. Frankie, I want you and Tim to get over there right away and arrest him." Colonel Atkins folded his hands behind his back. "I need you to go now before he realizes we're on to him and gets away."  
  
Frankie nodded and flung her coat back on. She didn't remember her dream until she and Tim got into the car. Then her breathe caught in her throat. This was exactly the attack that the man in her dream had been speaking of. How was that possible?  
  
Frankie's eyes scanned the side of the road as she pulled the car over. Aha, there he was. How could he be so careless as to be crouched in nearly plain sight? Apparently this person did not have much experience in the sniper field. She found it hard to believe that he was connected to the other attacks because of his carelessness...but she was sure now that all the cases linked. At least that's what the man had said in her dream.  
  
She and Tim pulled out their guns and approached the man from behind. Tim pressed the barrel of his gun to the man's back, ordering him to drop his sniper rifle. He quickly obeyed and turned to face them. That was when Frankie realized how young the male was.  
  
"What's your name?" Frankie kept her gun pointed at him, but softened her demeanor a bit.  
  
The boy raised his chin defiantly. "I'm not talking!"  
  
Frankie rolled her eyes, but Tim spoke before she got a chance. "This is going to be a lot easier on you and on us if you talk."  
  
The boy kept his head held high and remained silent.  
  
Frankie sighed, this was going to be harder than she thought. She motioned for Tim to put the guy in the back of the car. He did as she told and they drove to police headquarters. They would have to hold the kid for now because Frankie didn't have time to question him at the moment. She had to get back and report to Colonel Atkins what she had found out about her dreams.  
  
Frankie walked into headquarters and found Colonel Atkins eagerly awaiting her report. "We got him, Sir." She said as she folded her arms. "He's down at police headquarters right now...I'll go question him later."  
  
"Good job, Frankie." Colonel Atkins commended her and turned to leave the room before Frankie stopped him.  
  
"Sir, I have another matter to talk to you about." She paused to make sure that he was listening. "I've been having these strange dreams. I start off walking down a hallway in an abandoned warehouse, trying to get to these people that I'm supposed to capture. Then I get a gun pressed against my head and I turn around and there's a guy in a mask. Usually he shoots me, then I wake up, but this afternoon my dream was different...the man pulled off his mask and talked to me." She stopped for a moment to decide on what to say next. "He called me a traitor and said I foiled all of his terrorist attacks. I asked him what plans I foiled and he talked about the office building bombing...and about the sniper."  
  
The Colonel shrugged. "So, you dreamed about what happened today...what does that have to do with this case?"  
  
"Sir." Frankie said impatiently. "I had this dream before we knew anything about the sniper shooting."  
  
Colonel Atkins suddenly became much more interested in what Frankie had to say. "How is that possible?"  
  
She shook her head. "I don't know, Sir." She put her hands on her hips after running on hand through her blonde hair. "But I was thinking...if I went to sleep and had this dream again...I might be able to find out what the next attack is...then maybe we can prevent it."  
  
The Colonel nodded slowly, beginning to understand what Frankie was trying to say. "You can try it, Frankie. But I'm not so sure this will work."  
  
Frankie grinned slightly, glad she had gotten any reaction out of the Colonel at all. She nodded a farewell and exited the building. She got into her car and headed back to her apartment room where she would take a short nap to see if the dream would come again.  
  
-  
  
Frankie walked once more down the abandoned hallway of the building. The shadows swirled around her, threatening to engulf her if she took one step toward them. She could hear the voices of the others in a distant room...one that she never seemed to get any closer to no matter how far she walked. Her gun was gripped tightly in her hands, her right index finger poised over the trigger, ready to fire if the need arose.  
  
And then she felt it...the cold metal being pressed against the back of her neck. She obediently dropped her gun and whirled around to face her captor. The menacing blue eyes, they were there again staring down at her. But then something happened...the man pulled off his mask revealing his short brown hair.  
  
"You traitor." The man's low voice echoed through the hall causing Frankie to jump...she hadn't expected him to speak. "How could you turn on us now when you've been with us for so long?"  
  
Frankie froze, but this time she knew what to say. "How have I betrayed you?" She demanded.  
  
The man's eyes flashed angrily. "The children...you told the police about the bomb we put in the snack truck at the elementary school. The plan would have worked perfectly if it hadn't been for you!"  
  
Frankie's eyes widened in surprise...children?! But these were terrorists that she was dealing with. And she wasn't surprised that there was not a heart behind those hate-filled eyes. "How dare you attack children! What did they do to you?"  
  
The man struck her hard, sending her crashing to the ground. She had obviously set off his temper. "Of course they haven't! That's the beauty in the whole plan...it will strike terror into the hearts of those in this country."  
  
She glared at him. "You're sick!"  
  
The man lashed out with his foot, letting it come in contact with her side. "You're a fool."  
  
Frankie cried out in pain, looking up at the man with an angry gaze. "You only wish I was a fool...that's why you're so angry!"  
  
The man pointed his gun at her head and allowed it to fire. Glass shattered about Frankie as she felt the bullet come in contact with her skull.  
  
-  
  
Frankie awoke with a start...but not as much of one as she had for all of her other dreams. She immediately pulled her cell phone from her coat pocket and dialed a number. "Colonel Atkins? Take down this address..." She flipped through a phone book quickly and read off the address of the Elementary school. "There's a bomb in the snack truck outside of the school."  
  
"You'd better be right about this, Frankie." Colonel Atkins responded.  
  
"I believe I am, Sir." Frankie pressed the 'end' button on the phone and sat back down on the couch.


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

Response to Reviews:

Melanie-Anne - Heehee...I guess you'll have to find out by reading this next chapter. (Oh, you're welcome for getting chapter 10 out so soon! Lol!)

Freitazal - Haha, thanks for the compliment. Yes, Frankie's dreams are **very **closely related to Alora...this chapter will explain that. (Hopefully, hah!)

Angelus Love - Heehee...you'll just have to remain in suspense and find out what happens! :) Am I evil or what? Lol.

* * *

Chapter 11  
  
Frankie was going over all the clues from the recent cases when Colonel Atkins walked into the room. "You were right, Frankie." Colonel Atkins folded his hands behind his back and gave a slight smile. "We dismantled the bomb in the snack truck before it blew the whole school to the ground."  
  
Frankie nodded and controlled the urge to beam proudly. "I'm glad, Sir."  
  
The Colonel sighed, "I just wish we could have prevented the attack on Agent Kilmer, he'd be a real help to me about now."  
  
"I'm flattered, Colonel."  
  
Both Frankie and Colonel Atkins looked up with startled expressions to see where the voice had come from. At that exact moment, John Kilmer was walking through the office door on a pair of metal crutches. He looked tired, but at least he was getting around.  
  
"John!" A wide smile appeared on Frankie's face. "How'd you get here?"  
  
Kilmer grinned slightly, glad to see he had been missed. "Someone from the hospital agreed to drive me over here. The let me out today."  
  
Colonel Atkins couldn't keep a smile from forming on his solemn face as he looked at John's crutches curiously. "Why are you on crutches, Kilmer? If I recall, nothing happened to your legs."  
  
To someone who didn't know Colonel Atkins, his last comment could have been seen as pushy or skeptical…but too his friends, it was just simple curiosity.  
  
"The bullet entered my side from an angle. The point of entry was close to my hip, so they just don't want me to put a lot of wait on it, and they want me to take it easy." John sat down in Jelani's empty swivel chair and leaned against the back of the seat with a weary sigh. "I never realized how far it really is from the main door to this chair."  
  
Frankie laughed and leaned against Jelani's desk.  
  
Frankie's dreams helped the Threat Matrix team prevent three more attacks. One was a bombing in a grocery store, another was a kidnapping, and the third was another sniper along the road.  
  
With John Kilmer back on the team, progress was being made a lot more quickly. No one knew exactly why…maybe his returning to work boosted everyone's confidence and helped them to work a little harder than they had been before.  
  
-  
  
Alora stepped out of her car and let her brown eyes scan over the abandoned factory. She wondered how Jamison had been holding up without her for the last couple of days. She pulled her black, leather coat farther around her shoulders as she began to shiver slightly…the air was getting colder by the day, and almost all of the leaves had fallen from the trees. Alora Stari smoothed the creases from her straight black skirt as she walked into the building.  
  
She moved quickly down the dark hallway, but paused when she heard an unfamiliar voice ring out in the distance. She couldn't quite make out what the person was saying, but she knew she had never heard them before. Her gun was slipped silently out of her pocket as she held it in front of her. If there was an unfamiliar person in here…they could be dangerous. She gripped her gun tightly and kept it pointing in front of her as she walked along the silent hallway. The only sounds that could be heard were the unfamiliar voice and the heels of her black shoes clicking against the cement flooring. The shadows seemed to be a bit deeper and more menacing as she moved briskly along.  
  
And then she felt it...the cold metal being pressed against the back of her neck. She obediently dropped her gun and whirled around to face her captor. A black mask covered most of the man's head, but it was the eyes staring back at her that frightened her more than the gun. They were icy blue and filled with more anger than she had ever known them to be.  
  
"Jamison?" Alora sighed with relief and began to pull away from him, but she stopped when he pressed his gun harder against her neck. She raised her eyebrows in disbelief as she looked up at him, figuring this was just a joke…but those blue eyes continued to glare down at her.  
  
"You traitor." The boldness of Jamison's voice caused Alora to jump. "How could you turn on us now when you've been with us for so long?"  
  
A confused expression overtook her features. "I've never betrayed you!"  
  
His eyes flashed angrily. "Don't lie to me, Alora. You gave away all of our attacks! You told them about the children…and about the sniper." He rolled his eyes with exasperation. "How could you turn Derek in? I know he's an amateur kid…but he would have improved…now all his get is a wasted life in prison."  
  
Alora spoke angrily. "And that's exactly what you're going to get if you don't quit pointing that gun at me."  
  
She attempted to move casually away from him but he struck her, causing her to collapse to the floor. He laughed coldly as she pressed the cold palm of her hand to her throbbing cheek. "You're a fool for betraying us! We helped you avenge his death…and now you're starting to turn us in."  
  
"I have not turned any of you in!" Alora's voice remained strong, but inside she was beginning to get worried…she had never seen Jamison so angry.  
  
Jamison lashed out with his foot, letting it come into contact with her side. "Then perhaps you can explain to me how the police knew of our every move. None of us told them...you were the only one that had contact with them. It had to be you. Our entire organization…all that we've built here together…was almost ruined because of you. You've grown weak."  
  
Alora cried out in pain as his foot his hard against her side, cracking two of her ribs. "You're the one who has grown weak, Jamison!"  
  
The man rolled his cold, blue eyes but kept his gun trained on Alora, lest she should find a moment to counter attack. "Stand up." When she didn't respond to his order he grabbed her fiercely by the arm and pulled her into a standing position. "Walk." He pressed his gun hard against her spine and steered her along until they reached the office area.  
  
The two walked inside, and Jamison was greeted by Allison who only gave Alora an angry glance. Allison pulled a set of handcuffs from her back pocket and slapped them onto Alora's wrists, which were now being pinned behind her back.  
  
"Take her." Jamison ordered Allison.  
  
Allison nodded silently and pulled her own gun out of her belt, keeping it pointed at Alora's head as she lead her into an empty office. Allison shoved Alora into her chair, causing her to whimper in pain as she landed with a thud.  
  
"Allison…why…are you doing this?" Alora asked, trying to catch her breath.  
  
"Shut up!" Allison yelled as she sat down at a computer, keeping her gun pointed straight at Alora's heart.  
  
Alora bit her lip, trying to think of some way out of this. For some reason she wasn't coming up with very many ideas.  
  
-  
  
John Kilmer limped into the main headquarters, finally being able to get around a little without the help of his crutches. Frankie glanced up from what she had been doing. "Can I help you?" He seemed to be looking for someone.  
  
"Yeah." John nodded. "Where's Alora…I need her to get a few things up on the computer for me."  
  
Frankie raised a brow. "Why don't you just ask Jelani?" She asked suspiciously.  
  
John sighed. "Jelani went out about an hour ago to run a few errands."  
  
She nodded once before she shrugged. "Come to think of it…I haven't seen her around all morning. She never reported in."  
  
Mo walked around from the other side of the desk and cast John a worried glance. "Yeah…I haven't seen her since she left last night."  
  
John's heart skipped a beat. "This isn't good." He could have just assumed that Alora had decided to take a day off, or sleep in late…but given the current terrorist situation, he didn't think that was the case.  
  
Frankie's brows creased as she thought through John's words. "If you're suggesting she was kidnapped or…" She left her sentence hanging. "How would we have any idea where to start looking?"  
  
John raised his arms and let them fall back against his sides (gentler on the left side). "I don't know. Mo, start looking for anything that could lead us to Alora." He paused. "Call Jelani up and tell him to get back here. When he gets here, tell him to a more detailed search and profile and Miss Allison Solis. I think she might give us more clues as to where to start searching."  
  
Frankie and Mo nodded, but Frankie looked back up curiously. "Where are you going?"  
  
John raised a defiant brow, knowing that she would object to his next statement. "I'm going out to look for her."  
  
Frankie stood up to protest. "But John! New York City is a gigantic city! It would take you too long to search the whole thing." But before she finished her statements, John was already out the door. She sighed and absentmindedly fell back into her chair. She shook her head and spun around to face her computer…where would she start? She could hear Mo talking to Jelani on the phone on the other side of the desk separator.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
Alora leaned her head back against the chair wearily, but never dared to close her eyes and sleep. She crossed her legs impatiently and glanced out the window at the empty parking lot. For once she wished that this wasn't an abandoned building…then she might have some chance of getting out of here.  
  
"Allison…I didn't betray you. You must understand that!" Alora pleaded as she watched Allison carefully.  
  
The opposing female ignored Alora completely and continued typing on the older computer. Allison glanced at Alora every once in a while out of the corner of her eye to make sure that she wasn't going to try anything.  
  
"I'm your friend, Allison. I haven't betrayed any of our secrets…I don't know how they got out." Alora waited until Allison was looking at her before she continued. "Now untie me." Alora knew that she wasn't in any position to be giving orders, but she was hoping that Allison would respond to her.  
  
"I don't take orders from you anymore…only Jamison." The hesitation could be seen on Allison's face as she spoke, but the gun pointed directly at Alora's heart showed that she would still hold firm on her position.  
  
-  
  
John Kilmer drove his car around one area of New York City, trying to think of any leads that would give a hint as to where she could be. He had already been to her house and found it empty…so he knew something had gone wrong. He walked stiffly back into headquarters with a frown. "Frankie…do you have any idea where she might be?"  
  
Frankie shook her head. "Sorry, I can't help you." Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she brushed a strand behind her ear that had fallen loose. Then she got an idea. "Wait a minute." She pointed her finger at the computer even though it had nothing to do with what she was thinking of. She spun around on her chair to face Kilmer as she spoke. "In all of my dreams I was in an abandoned factory…that has to have something to do with this or it wouldn't have been in my dream at all."  
  
John nodded. "Tim!" He hollered, his voice able to be heard through the entire office section. Kilmer didn't speak again until Tim rounded a corner and looked at him questioningly. "Come with me…we're going to search a couple of the nearby warehouses."  
  
Tim nodded and pulled on his jacket without questioning John's orders…he knew better than to do that because John was almost always right with his hunches.  
  
The two men rushed out of the building and slid into John's car before Frankie could object.  
  
She shook her head and sat back down at her computer…they'd better not get themselves into trouble. At least John had his cell phone with him incase he needed to call for reinforcement. She would be ready if he did.  
  
-  
  
John and Tim stared at the crumbling building. "Certainly there's nobody here." Tim suggested. "I mean - this place looks like it could collapse any minute."  
  
John nodded, but motioned for Tim to follow him forward. "Maybe, but we've got to check it anyway." John reached for the door handle and turned it slowly, watching as it broke of and fell into his hand. "Oops." He said as Tim grinned at him.  
  
John pushed the door open instead, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness of the building. John pulled his gun out of his holster and held it out in front of him, pointing it at the air.  
  
Tim did the same as they scanned the warehouse, walking silently along the soft dirt floor. John moved into one of the long hallways, followed closely by Tim. He pushed open one of the doors and spun inside, pointing his gun quickly at every angle in turn…but the room was completely empty.  
  
A few minutes later they both walked back into the main room of the warehouse. "There's nothing here, John." Tim sighed as he returned his gun to his belt. "Where's our next stop?"  
  
"A couple of blocks from here." John said as he walked out the door and into the cool afternoon air. The sun was beaming down on them, and though it didn't provide any warmth in the cool, fall weather, it did lift their spirits and seemed to shed some light on their gloomy situation.  
  
-  
  
Alora had nearly fallen asleep when the office door was flung open as Jamison stormed inside. He motioned toward Allison, giving her permission to leave. Allison nodded briefly before exiting the room.  
  
"For a while I was afraid you were going to convince her that I was wrong." Jamison laughed when he saw Alora's confused expression. "I've been listening to your conversations. Actually, I can't really call it a conversation because you were doing all the talking." He smirked and sat down on the edge of the desk.  
  
Alora glared at her former 'employee', refusing to speak to him.  
  
"Oh, it's the silent treatment now?" He chuckled slightly, but kept his gun on her, ever reminding her that he wasn't hear for a pleasant chat. "No matter." He glared at her. "I only want to know how you could have betrayed us after all we've done for you."  
  
Alora returned his cold stare and sat up a bit straighter in her chair, showing her defiance. "I didn't betray you, Jamison."  
  
Jamison shook his head and kicked one of the legs of her chair, causing it to tumble backwards. "You're lying to me."  
  
Alora's cry rang through the office as she thudded to the floor. She flipped her hair behind her to get a clear view of Jamison as she looked up at him. "You're a fool to think I'm lying!"  
  
Jamison whipped the chair out from underneath her and flung it across the room. In the process, it hit Alora in the mouth, causing blood to trickle from her lip. "I'm a terrorist, Alora. That's what I've always been, and I thought you were too…but you're too weak. And you've been getting weaker. I've seen it in your eyes when you watched as we attacked people."  
  
Alora shook her head. "You're wrong." She pressed her tongue to her lips in attempt to stop the blood flow. "You're the one who's gone soft. No…you've gone insane. You're turning on your own boss…the one who gave you this position in the first place! Without me, you'd never be here!"  
  
Jamison grinned menacingly. "I don't have a boss. You should have figured that out a long time ago."  
  
"I've given you inside information from the Threat Matrix team for a long time! What makes you think I would turn on you now?" Alora pulled herself to her feet despite her hands still being handcuffed behind her back.  
  
Jamison shook his head as if he were disappointed. "And I'm sure you've been feeding them information about us…that's how they've known all of our recent attacks before hand and prevented them…there's no other explanation."  
  
-  
  
Jelani watched the screen intently as he scrolled through Allison's bio for the twentieth time. This seemed like a wild goose chase to him…there was nothing here. They knew she had planted the bomb, because he cameras picked her up as the last person leaving the blast point before the bomb went off…so it had to be her. But other than that, there were no leads as to where she could have gone.  
  
Frankie walked up to Jelani, her hands shoved deep into her pockets. "Find anything."  
  
He shook his head. "Absolutely nothing. I've been over this list so many times I almost have it memorized…but there's not a single clue as to where she could have gone after she planted the bomb." He let out a depressed sigh. "She doesn't even own a house! Where she gets her money to survive and pay for that outfit she was seen wearing in the office building, we might never know!"  
  
Frankie ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Whoever we're dealing with is very smart."  
  
"Maybe it's a ghost." Jelani said seriously as he folded his hands behind his head, resting for a moment.  
  
"You can't be serious." She raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot once on the floor.  
  
"It would explain why we can't find any clues." Jelani forced himself to sit up in his chair and return his attention to the screen. He began to drum his fingers on the desktop in frustration. "Why can't I find anything on this woman? This has never been this difficult before…it's almost as if she doesn't exist, but I know she does 'cause we got her on film."  
  
Frankie patted Jelani's shoulder encouragingly. "Keep trying, Jelani. We'll find something eventually."  
  
Just then Lark burst into the office area with an excited look on her face. "Hey you guys…I got something you might wanna see!" With that she spun on her heel leaving the others to ponder her words a second before quickly following her down to the lab. 


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

Response to Reviews:

Melanie-Anne - Heehee...sorry about the delay on chapter 13...I probably just un-spoiled you, but that's ok. :) Hopefully this chapter makes up for it.

Freitazal - Hmm...you'll just have to read and find out if she lives or dies...Shrugs Who knows. (Besides me of course...muahaha) Lol!

Angelus Love - Hehe, I know, I'm evil! But I'm glad you like my story...I'm not sure if anything will happen with Alora and John since John already has Frankie...but hey, who knows. I might have to invent someone in the sequel to this for Alora...but hey...like I said - who knows! Lol.

* * *

Chapter 13  
  
John Kilmer and Tim Serrano walked into another abandoned warehouse. John was ready to let his eyes adjust to the darkness when he opened the door, but was surprised by the brightness of the building. Apparently just enough sun was getting through the large windows to provide efficient lighting.  
  
Tim swiped his hand through a large cobweb and dusted it off on his pants. "Even the spiders have abandoned this building." He laughed as his eyes scanned the warehouse.  
  
John nodded and walked around a bit. "For some reason, I don't think there's anyone else here."  
  
Tim shook his head. "I'm getting the same feeling."  
  
The two explored a bit more but didn't find anything of importance. Basically, this was your simple, average abandoned warehouse. They walked outside with sober expressions and slid into John's car. For some reason, they both got the feeling that this could take quite some time unless Jelani provided them with a lead.  
  
-  
  
Lark led the team down to the lab and picked up a battery in her gloved hands. Once everyone had gathered around the table, she spoke. "This is the battery we found outside of John's apartment after he was shot." She waited until Frankie had pulled on a pair of latex gloves before she handed it to her. "Apparently it's a very rare battery that is made specifically for a limited number of products like a flashlight or battery powered lantern."  
  
"How does that help us?" Frankie asked as she looked over the battery.  
  
Lark grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask. You see…I went to the only specialty store around here that sells this kind of battery. I talked to the manager and he said that they almost never sell this particular make. So when I asked him if he remembered anyone buying it recently he said yes…it was a tall guy with dark brown hair and blue eyes." She paused a minute when Frankie glanced up at her with a surprised look on her face. "The manager went back to look through his files and brought out a check signed by a Mr. Jamison Bagatelle."  
  
Why would anyone be stupid enough to leave such a rare battery lying around? Holly signed to Lark with a questioning expression.  
  
"Apparently the person who was using the battery didn't realize how rare it really is." Lark took the battery back from Frankie and placed it down on the table. "I took the liberty of looking up a profile on Mr. Bagatelle before I called the rest of you down here…look what it brought up."  
  
She ushered them toward the large lab computer and the screen was immediately filled with pictures and information on Jamison Bagatelle. "Turns out his last name isn't Bagatelle at all…it's Alibi." She glanced at Frankie and Mo. "Does that name ring a bell?"  
  
Mo nodded, a little surprised by Lark's findings. "Jamison Alibi! We've been searching for him for years."  
  
Frankie was beginning to remember. "Yes…he's the one that bombed the train station two years ago. We haven't been able to locate him since."  
  
Lark clicked a few times on the screen bringing up some new information. "Precisely."  
  
"What else do you have?" Jelani asked. He noticed that Lark still seemed as if she had something that she wanted to show them.  
  
Lark typed a few words on the keyboard and a large map popped up on the screen. "His house." Was all she needed to say as she printed off the list and handed it to Frankie.  
  
So will we be able to find the other terrorists through this information? Holly signed to Lark as she looked at the map over Frankie's shoulder.  
  
Lark nodded in response. "Hopefully we'll be able to find something at his house that will lead us to the others like Allison and the sniper that we already picked up. Even if we can't find anything there…we'll be able to find him. Maybe he'll talk." Lark shrugged hopefully and glanced at Frankie.  
  
Frankie folded up the map and slipped it into her coat pocket. "I'm gonna go check this out. You want to come with me, Mo?"  
  
He nodded. "Yup." He pulled on his coat and secured his gun in its holster as he headed toward the door.  
  
"Maybe we'll find something that'll lead to Alora. If Jamison has anything to do with her disappearance. At least it'll give us something more to go on." Frankie's mood was brightening. They were getting more and more leads on this case just when they thought they had reached a dead end. Frankie loved the feeling of opening up many more possibilities after the case had been stuck for a while.  
  
-  
  
Alora was sitting in her chair once more…her hands still cuffed tightly behind her back. It had been a long couple of hours simply staring at bare walls. She wondered if anyone would find her or if they had even realized she was gone yet. Hopefully they had, because then they would do everything in their power to find her…she knew the Threat Matrix team.  
  
Jamison had gone out of the room quite some time ago, saying that he had an errand to run or something like that. She was curious as to where he was going, but she knew he would never tell her. The only thing she really wanted to know was who had given away the terrorists' secrets and given away their attacks. She knew that it hadn't been her, even if Jamison insisted that she did. She had been completely loyal to all of them.  
  
Her stomach rumbled, thoughts of food beginning to fill her head. It had been a long time since she had gotten anything to eat…hopefully Jamison would remember that and would not starve her to death.  
  
-  
  
Frankie and Mo parked their cars about a block away from Jamison's house so that they wouldn't draw any unwanted attention to themselves. Frankie was the first to approach the door and she knocked loudly on the wooden frame. Her hand was ready to reach for her gun if the need arose, and she was sure it was the same for Mo who was standing silently right behind her.  
  
No one answered the door after a few knocks so Frankie turned the knob, her heart skipping a beat when she found it unlocked. Perfect. The two stepped inside and looked around, surprised to find a fairly normal looking house. The furniture was neatly placed and everything was clean.  
  
Mo walked into the kitchen of the house and began going through a few of the drawers. There were old bills and receipts that they could take down to the lab and have checked out…but he didn't see how they would help locate Jamison.  
  
Frankie placed her gun back in its holster and pulled on a pair of latex gloves. She randomly picked up objects that were lying around the house, her eyes scanning over them quickly before placing them back into their proper positions.  
  
"Did you find anything, Mo?" She asked loudly as she moved into the living room.  
  
"Just a bunch of old bills and papers. I thought we could give them to Lark when we get back to headquarters…maybe she can find something with them." Mo picked up the papers and slid them into a plastic back before shoving them into his coat pocket.  
  
"Good idea." Frankie brushed a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she put her hands into the pockets of her FBI jacket. "There's got to be something here…" She said softly to herself.  
  
-  
  
Allison walked briskly down the sidewalk. She was headed to Jamison's house to pick up a few papers that he had requested. He said he was going out to run some errands and wouldn't be able to get the papers himself. Since the warehouse wasn't very far from his house, Allison had decided to walk instead of taking her car.  
  
As she approached the doorway, she noticed that it had been left open. She paused just long enough to slip out her gun and cock it before slipping inside the house. She heard to people talking about something - their voices were too muffled for her to understand them clearly. She followed the sounds and hid around the corner, listening. Her gun was raised quickly as she spun around to face the intruders. She fired a single shot and took off as Frankie and Mo both pulled their guns out.  
  
Mo grabbed his arm as it was grazed by the bullet Allison had fired. He let out a brief cry of pain before raising his gun and motioning for Frankie to follow him outside.  
  
"Are you alright?" Frankie asked as she looked at Mo's arm worriedly.  
  
He nodded. "I'm fine. Let's follow her!"  
  
They both exited the house quickly and raced down the sidewalk after Allison. When they got to the more industrialized part of town, they lost Allison's red head in a sea of people.  
  
"Great!" Frankie said as she slowed to a stop. She turned around allowing her eyes to scan all angles of the street. "We…lost her." Frankie placed one hand on her hip as she tried to catch her breath.  
  
"No we didn't!" Mo pointed straight ahead and took off, following Allison's red curls down the sidewalk.  
  
"Wait, stop." Frankie whispered as she grabbed Mo's arm and pulled him back around a corner. She pressed herself up against the wall and peeked around the brick as she watched Allison slip into an old building. "That must be the warehouse they're hiding in."  
  
"Don't be ridiculous, Frankie. She just went in there to hide from us." Mo raised a brow in disbelief.  
  
Frankie ignored Mo's statement and motioned for him to follow her as she approached the building silently.  
  
-  
  
Allison rushed into the main office area of the abandoned factory. "Jamison!" She yelled over the buzz of all that was taking place in the room.  
  
Jamison stepped out of his office, a worried expression taking over his face. "What is it?" He was worried that Allison was going to tell him Alora had escaped.  
  
"I'm being followed by two of the agents." Allison let out a large breath before speaking again. "I took a shot at one, but apparently I missed because they were still on my trail."  
  
"You idiot! You let them right to us!" Jamison shoved passed Allison and pulled his large gun from his belt. He walked into the room in which Alora was being held. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." He said angrily as he woke Alora by pulling her from her chair. "It appears your friends have stumbled onto our hideout." He glared at Allison with this statement, and she smiled sheepishly.  
  
Alora smirked. "Good."  
  
Jamison shoved the barrel of his gun hard against Alora's back as he pushed her out of the room. "You and I are gonna head out the back way. I'll leave Allison to deal with our unexpected visitors since she's the one that led them here."  
  
Allison's eyebrows rose with surprise as she moved to follow Jamison. He shoved her back. "Make sure they don't follow us." He ordered as he and Alora slipped out the side office door.  
  
Allison let out a sigh and raised her gun as she walked back out into the main hallway.  
  
-  
  
"John?" Frankie said into her cell phone. "We've located the warehouse." She read off the address to him as she and Mo cautiously approached the building. "Hurry over here…and you might want to bring reinforcements." With that, Frankie pressed the end button.  
  
She glanced toward Mo with a nod and pushed open the warehouse door.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
  
Frankie and Mo moved down the dark hallway of the abandoned warehouse, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of movement. They finally spotted Allison when they turned a sharp corner, and they immediately opened fire on her. The sound of gunshots immediately began to echo through the bare walls of the building as shots were fired amongst the three people.  
  
With a shot from Mo, Allison finally went down. Her gun clattered across the cement floor and landed at Frankie's feet. She rushed up to the fallen female and checked her pulse.  
  
"She's still alive." She said, looking up at Mo. "You only hit the top of her shoulder." She drug Allison's body over to one of the vents and held her hand out to Mo. "Give me your handcuffs."  
  
Mo looked confused but handed Frankie his set of handcuffs anyway. He watched as Frankie looped the metal rings through a pole in the vent and hooked them onto Allison's hands.  
  
"There." Frankie said, pulling herself back up into a standing position. "She won't be getting away anytime soon." Frankie walked over and picked up Allison's gun…she didn't want anyone else getting a hold of it and using it against them. She hoped John and Tim would be arriving soon with reinforcements. There were probably more people in here that didn't want to be found.  
  
Mo began to walk down the hallway once more. There were so many doors lining the walls that he hardly knew where to begin. A lot of the doors had windows so he could see the emptiness of the room without having to enter it.  
  
Frankie moved along beside him, her gun raised and pointing straight out in front of her incase she needed to use it quickly.  
  
-  
  
"Ok, Frankie." John said as he hung up the cell phone. He turned to Tim who had just gotten into the passenger seat of the black car. "Frankie's got a lead. She and Mo followed Allison there and want us to come with reinforcements."  
  
Tim buckled his seatbelt before turning to Kilmer. "Want me to call the Colonel and let him know? He can call in the cops and bring in the rest of the team."  
  
John nodded. "Yeah, go ahead." He pulled his cell phone back out of his pocket and tossed it to Tim who caught it gracefully. He listened as Tim talked to Colonel Atkins, explaining what he knew of the situation.  
  
Tim hung up the phone and handed it back to Kilmer. "He said he'd be over as soon as he can with backup. I hope Frankie knows what she's doing."  
  
John slid his cell back into his pocket. "I think she does…besides, we already know Allison's part of this, so if there's not anyone else there, at least we should get her."  
  
Tim nodded and leaned back in his seat as John revved the engine to life and pulled out onto the street. He hoped everyone was still alright.  
  
-  
  
Frankie and Mo were walking down the silent hallway when they heard a door slam. Frankie perked up immediately and began to move faster down the long hall. When they reached the door from which they assumed the sound had come they moved through it cautiously with guns raised. Mo lead the way and they quickly found themselves in the back of the parking lot. Who had come this way? Apparently someone who had wanted to get away.  
  
A cool breeze was blowing through the back alleyway causing fallen leaves to swirl about in small clusters. They crunched underfoot with each step that Frankie and Mo took as they searched around for whoever had gotten away from them.  
  
It was then that she heard the sound of footsteps moving quickly down the side of the building. She motioned for Mo to follow her and they slipped silently around the corner, hoping to catch up with the escapee without being noticed.  
  
-  
  
Lark, Jelani, and Holly were searching the computers for any tidbit of information that might help this case along a little more quickly. At the moment they weren't finding anything, but as soon as they received a call from Frankie or John, they were sure they would have more to go on.  
  
I wonder if they've found anything important at Jamison's house. Holly signed to Jelani as she watched him scroll through information on one of the large monitors.  
  
"I don't know." Jelani sighed. He hoped they were doing better out their than he was in here. Jelani and Holly were both startled when an annoying little tune rang through the silence of the room.  
  
Lark grinned at them sheepishly as she went through her purse searching for the cell phone she had placed inside only moments before. That was the trouble with having a messy purse…you were never able to find anything in it. The phone was nearing the last ring when Lark triumphantly pulled it from her purse.  
  
"Hello?" She asked cheerily, even though the expression on her face displayed exactly the opposite emotion.  
  
"Lark?" Colonel Atkins' voice was loud on the other end of the line. She would have to remind herself to turn the volume down on her phone when this conversation was over.  
  
"Yes, Colonel. Is something wrong?" She could tell by the tension in the Colonel's voice that everything was not perfect.  
  
The Colonel pressed his phone closer to his ear as he spoke into it. "I'm not exactly sure yet. Tim called me and said that they seem to have a lead. They received a call from Frankie and Mo not to long ago telling them to meet them at an abandoned warehouse. It seems they have stumbled onto this terrorist group's headquarters, because the caught Allison running into the building. They told Kilmer to bring reinforcements with them incase they were needed and to have the rest of the team come along too." Roger Atkins paused to let this new information sink in before he continued. "I want you to head down there, Lark, but I want Jelani and Holly to stay where they are and get a satellite picture of this warehouse."  
  
"Alright. I'll get down there as soon as I can." Lark waited until the Colonel gave her the address to the warehouse, and then she hung up the phone.  
  
What was that all about? Holly asked as she turned to face Lark.  
  
"Apparently they have a lead on which warehouse the terrorist group is located in. I'm heading down their with the Colonel to bring them backup, but he wants you two to get him a satellite picture of the warehouse." She handed Jelani the paper she had written the address down on.  
  
"Ok." Jelani spun on his chair so that he was facing the computer again. He input the address into the satellite system and an aerial view of the warehouse came up. He could just barely make out two figures walking around the back of the building and two moving around the side. The first two must have been Mo and Frankie because one of the two was blonde and the other had dark hair. "I've got 'em." He said to Holly as he enlarged the picture.  
  
Now we can let them know when to watch their backs. Holly watched the screen eagerly.  
  
"That's the plan." Jelani said as he too watched the screen, waiting to see what would happen next. Finally he got tired of sitting and doing nothing so he lifted the phone off of the receiver and dialed the number to Frankie's cell. Hopefully she had it on vibrate so the loud ringing sound wouldn't alert the people they were following…maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.  
  
It was three rings before Frankie finally answered her phone. "Hello?" She whispered as she kept her gun raised.  
  
"Frankie? It's Jelani."  
  
"Jelani, you're lucky I didn't have my phone set on ring!" Frankie pressed the phone closer to her lips so that she wouldn't have to talk as loudly.  
  
"I'm watching you and Mo via satellite. I've got an entire picture of the warehouse." He glanced over at the screen. "Are you following somebody?"  
  
"Yes." Frankie nodded even though she knew that Jelani couldn't see the gesture.  
  
"Well there are two people just a short distance ahead of you on the side of the building."  
  
"Ok, thanks, Jelani. I gotta go now." She pressed the 'end' button on her cell and slipped it back into her pocket. Now they had the information they needed…good thing Jelani was watching them from the air. She glanced over at Mo.  
  
"Jelani's got a satellite on us. He said there are two people up around this corner along the side of the building."  
  
Mo nodded and cocked his gun before they came into hearing range of the two people they were following. He raised it until it was pointing straight out so that he could get good aim incase he needed to pull the trigger.  
  
Frankie's heart began to beat faster in her chest as her anticipation rose. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear so that it would in no way hinder her vision and prevent her from hitting her target if she needed to.  
  
"Ready, Mo?" She whispered as they paused at the corner of the building.  
  
"Ready." Mo nodded and the two of them spun quickly around the corner, ready to face whatever awaited them. 


	15. Chapter 15

* * *

Response to Reviews:

Melanie-Anne - Heehee, yes, more to read. I'm glad you love how it's developing! :-D Hopefully this chapter isn't too confusing...!

Freitazal - Hey, thanks for the compliment! Lol. I hope you can understand this chapter, cuz I'm not sure if I do myself! Hehe.

* * *

Chapter 15  
  
Alora and Jamison were walking quickly along the side of the building when the heard something behind them. Jamison whirled around and came face to face with Frankie and Mo.  
  
Alora took a hesitant step back but was stopped when Jamison's gun was pressed to her neck.  
  
"Drop your guns, or I shoot her." Jamison yelled to Frankie and Mo who obediently lowered their guns and let them fall to the ground. Jamison moved slowly over and picked them up, tossing them into the bushes that lined the parking lot.  
  
Frankie looked at Mo out of the corner of her eye and let out a small sigh. Great. What were they going to do now?  
  
Mo watched as Jamison held his gun to Alora's neck. Hopefully he wouldn't harm her…and where was their backup? He thought John would have gotten here by now.  
  
"Wait a minute." Frankie said softly as she got a better look at Jamison.  
  
"What?" He snarled as he pointed his gun toward Frankie.  
  
She noted his dark hair and blue eyes. It was those eyes…the same blue eyes that had mocked her night after night in her sleep. Jamison was the man in her dreams. He was the one that haunted her with his cold, blue eyes. And now here she was, in the same position she had been in all of her dreams. She hoped the ending would be a little better this time around though. "You're the one from my dream."  
  
Jamison raised a questioning brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
Mo glanced over at Frankie wondering what she was going to say. Hopefully nothing that would upset Jamison and cause him to use the weapon he held tightly in his hand.  
  
"You gave told me all of your attacks. It was all in my dreams, but the attacks were real." Frankie glanced over at the building trying to think of what to say. "In my dreams you said I betrayed you. I asked you why and you told me all of the attacks I had given away. Then when I woke up, the attacks were real…and I could prevent them." Frankie immediately wished she could take back her words when she saw and angry gaze pass quickly over Jamison's face.  
  
Alora looked over at Jamison with a glare of her own. "I told you it wasn't me, you fool!"  
  
Jamison seemed confused, but he pulled his gun away from Alora's neck and pointed it at Frankie. "So it was you who betrayed our secrets. I should have believed Alora when she said she would never betray her comrades."  
  
Mo and Frankie glanced at Alora confusedly. "What's he talking about, Alora?" Mo was the first one to find words.  
  
Alora smirked as Jamison pulled a her gun from his belt and handed it to her. "You heard him."  
  
Frankie glared at her. "I should have known something like this was going on. I never trusted you from the beginning, Alora, and you know I didn't. But I put up with you…for the sake of the others."  
  
Alora raised her gun and laughed. "You put up with me? I don't think so." She nodded toward Jamison. "We could have killed you anytime we wanted…you had no idea!"  
  
Mo still seemed a little confused as he watched all that was taking place. Was this the same Alora that had so meekly come into their organization? How had she passed all of the background tests that they had given her. Probably because no one had known of her involvement with terrorist organizations. And all the time she had been plotting against them…planning attacks.  
  
"You talked of never betraying your friends…what about us, Alora? Are you saying that we meant nothing to you. Weren't we your friends?" He asked seriously as he waited for Alora's reply.  
  
Jamison shook his head and rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Alora, let's get out of here…we don't have time for this tear-jerking conversation." He grinned slightly and turned to leave.  
  
"Wait!" Alora commanded as she pointed her gun toward Frankie. "My friends?" She glanced toward Mo as she spoke. "These are my friends…" She gave a quick wave of her hand toward Jamison. She turned, her gun still trained on Frankie, her finger poised over the trigger. "I've waited nearly a year for a moment like this to come along." Alora said to Frankie with a glare.  
  
Frankie looked at Mo hesitantly. "What are you talking about, Alora? Are you so willing to betray those that have helped you and welcomed you so eagerly?"  
  
Alora shook her head with a mirthless laugh. "If I put down this gun, the only one I would be betraying is my brother."  
  
Jamison listened carefully as Alora spoke…he knew this moment would have to come sooner or later. Now she could no longer be spy in the Threat Matrix team…her true identity had been revealed to Frankie and Mo.  
  
Alora continued when she noticed Frankie and Mo's confused expressions. "You don't remember my brother, Frankie?" She asked threateningly. "Kalian Stari. Does the name ring a bell?"  
  
Frankie shook her head, keeping her eyes locked on Alora. What was going on? Who was Alora's brother, and what did he have to do with any of this?  
  
"December 3, 2004." Alora quoted. "There was another office building similar to the one that happened recently. My brother was there. So were you, Frankie." The tension in Alora's voice began to rise. "You immediately assumed that he had something to do with the bombing…but you weren't just satisfied with arresting him. No, you had to shoot him down! You murdered him, Frankie Ellroy!"  
  
Frankie stepped forward to protest, but was stopped by Alora's finger moving closer to the trigger of her gun. "He was a terrorist, Alora."  
  
Alora shook her head. "He didn't even have a weapon!" She nearly choked on her words as her growing rage began to show through her dark brown eyes.  
  
Frankie swallowed guiltily. Yes, she did remember this event. Kalian Stari ran when she found him…she had no choice but to fire her gun. "I didn't have a choice. I couldn't let him get away."  
  
"So you murdered him?" Alora raised a challenging brow.  
  
"I didn't murder him!" Frankie glanced to Mo for support, but he didn't remember the event so he was little help for her.  
  
Jamison stepped up next to Alora. "Well it wasn't self-defense."  
  
Alora looked over at Jamison and smirked. It was then she saw something move behind him. She could quite tell what it was, because it was hidden around the corner of the building. Apparently no one else had noticed because they were still watching her intently. "Did you expect me to forget that?" She asked Frankie, trying to avert everyone's attention away from the moving figure behind them.  
  
"I didn't even know Kalian had a sister…until now." Frankie's head was spinning…how could she not have connected Alora Stari with her brother…now everything made sense. Alora's brother was a terrorist that Frankie had killed. This, in turn, had angered Alora and caused her to form a terrorist group to stir up trouble. During all of this she had applied for a job on the Threat Matrix team, and since she had a clear background she had gotten in. She had apparently been using this position to feed information back to Jamison and her terrorist group…all the while planning to an attack to get back at Frankie for what she had done. Yes, it all made perfect sense now. "So you planned all of those attacks against the office building…and the children?!"  
  
Alora shook her head with a grin. "No, my good friend, Jamison, took care of all that."  
  
And then she heard it. The sound of quickly footsteps behind her. She watched as Jamison's gun fell from his hand as another was pressed against his spine.  
  
"John Kilmer!" Frankie sighed with relief.  
  
"Jamison Alibi, you are under arrest." John picked Jamison's gun up off the ground and motioned for another of the cops to take Jamison to the squad car.  
  
Alora grinned as she placed her gun back in its holster. "It's about time you got here, John. I thought I was gonna have to shot her."  
  
Confused expressions immediately fell upon Frankie and Mo. "Wait a minute." Mo said. "What's going on here?"  
  
John laughed slightly as he watched Jamison being loaded into the squad car. "We've been after that man for years. Alora helped up get him."  
  
"Sorry I had to draw my gun on you Frankie." Alora smiled apologetically, hoping that Frankie and Mo were not permanently angry with her.  
  
Frankie's jaw nearly dropped with shock as she heard John and Alora speak. "Would somebody mind filling me in here?"  
  
John laughed again and shook his head. "It'll all be explained when we get back to headquarters." He patted Mo on the shoulder because he seemed to have a look of surprise frozen on his face. "C'mon…let's go."  
  
Alora, John, and Mo headed off toward John's car leaving Frankie to watch as Jamison was read his rights and shoved into the back of a police car. What had just happened? Wasn't Alora one of the bad guys? Maybe John just didn't know this…but apparently he knew more then her. She let out a frustrated sigh and quickly jogged to catch up with them…hopefully all would be explained when they got back to the Vault, like John had said.

* * *

P.S. Aaaaaaahhh! What's going on? Lol. Pleez give me honest reviews for this chapter because I don't know if it's too confusing or not. I know you don't yet know why Alora held her gun on Frankie and then immediatly turned good when John arrived and arrested Jamison, but that will be explained in the next chapter. What I wanna know is if y'all understood the story line while Alora was talking about her brother and if you understood all what was going on during this chapter...hope so! :) Thanx!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
  
Frankie walked into the Vault, having arrived just after the rest of the team. She pulled off her coat and draped it over a chair as she sat down and watched John Kilmer and Colonel Atkins carefully. Supposedly they were going to explain to them all what had been going on.  
  
"I'm glad you're all here." Colonel Atkins said as he looked around the table, mentally taking roll call. "As you all know, we hired Miss Alora Stari almost a year ago…and she has been a valued member of our team ever since." He gave a slight nod toward Alora as somewhat of a 'thank you'. "We got Alora a lead position in Jamison's terrorist organization so that she could feed us information. We hoped she would get us enough to be able to arrest Mr. Jamison, which we haven't been able to do until now."  
  
"It was a secret between Colonel Atkins, Alora, and myself." John Kilmer said, finally butting into the conversation. "I'm sorry we had to leave the rest of you out of it, but we figured the fewer who know about it, the better."  
  
"So Alora's not really a terrorist?" Frankie asked skeptically…after all, Alora had pointed a gun at her face, threatening to fire it.  
  
Alora laughed softly. "Hardly. My brother really was, however, so Colonel Atkins thought I would be the perfect choice for this position…it would give me a legitimate reason to want to become a terrorist."  
  
Mo leaned back in his chair, still somewhat confused. "But you said you wanted to kill Frankie because she shot your brother."  
  
Alora frowned slightly at this statement. "I was ashamed of my brother's position as a terrorist…I never wanted to avenge his death. But raising a gun to Frankie was the only way I could think of to keep Jamison from leaving the scene before John arrived to arrest him. If you recall, he was trying to get me to leave…I had to stop him somehow. I'm sorry if I offended you, Frankie."  
  
Frankie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Don't worry about it." Was all that she could think of to say.  
  
Jelani grinned slightly. He had been eager to trust Alora from the beginning, and now he was glad that he had. "So you've never really been a member of that terrorist organization?"  
  
She shook her head. "No. I've always been loyal to the Threat Matrix team. Jamison knew I had a position here, but he thought I had gotten it so that I could feed him information…but it was really exactly the opposite." She leaned back in her chair, but winced when she remember her broken ribs. There wasn't really anything the doctors could do for her…she was just told to take it easy and let them heal on their own.  
  
Frankie nodded, beginning to understand. "Alora, I'm sorry I doubted you."  
  
Alora smiled. "It's alright, Frankie."  
  
John and Colonel Atkins exchanged grins…it was about time the two females started getting along.  
  
Just then Lark came into the room from the lab downstairs. She was carrying a large box, and when she set it down on the table everyone realized that it was actually a large cake.  
  
_What's this for?_ Holly signed.  
  
"A celebration for a job well done!" Lark set a knife down on the table and enough plates for everyone.  
  
"Isn't this a little ridiculous?" Colonel Atkins asked. "We've never had cake for any other missions." Roger Atkins seemed to think that their job was too serious to be celebrating with cake.  
  
Tim shook his head. "Well, there's always room for a little change, Colonel."  
  
Everyone laughed at this statement.  
  
"Dig in!" John Kilmer said above the murmurs of everyone around the table. And with that everyone held their plates up to Lark who was placing slices of cake on each one.  
  
I guess you could call this….mission accomplished.

* * *

Well everybody...that's it! How'd you like it? I hope you could understand the end...if not, let me know and I'll fix it to be more clear. Is it worth a sequel? Please let me know!

* * *


End file.
